Jamie Tucker

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Newspaper obituary: By Jack Williams UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 24, 2003

The first thing Jamie C. Tucker did after being diagnosed with advanced metastatic breast cancer was remove her watch.

Time doesn't matter, she told her friends and family. Quality of life, however brief, was her main concern.

"She was told she probably only had a couple of months left," said Jana Fortune, her daughter. "Then she set her sights on living another five years – each day to the fullest."

Busy with community service commitments and her role as president and chief executive officer of Combined Health Agencies of San Diego County, Ms. Tucker enjoyed 61/2 more productive years.

On Jan. 3, two days after the birth of her second granddaughter, Shelby Fortune, she went into the hospital as her condition worsened.

Ms. Tucker died Monday at her home in Tierrasanta. She was 55.

In 1983, in the midst of developing an academic program for kindergarten-through-fifth-grade pupils at Vista Grande Elementary School, Ms. Tucker took on an additional challenge.

"She had seen in a news report what the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Arizona had done for its first recipient," said Karen Krusen, a friend and former Make-A-Wish board member. "She said, 'We need to do this in San Diego.'

"So she gathered a few friends around her kitchen table and founded a San Diego chapter."

The foundation, which grants wishes to terminally ill patients from 2 to 18, became Ms. Tucker's vehicle for her stated goal: "making a difference in a child's life."

After the breast cancer diagnosis in May 1996, friends made sure Ms. Tucker was granted a wish of her own: visits to the rock 'n' roll, baseball and football halls of fame.

Although she resigned her leadership post at CHAD 11/2 years ago, she continued to attend board-of-directors meetings for a variety of community organizations.

"She personified giving back to the community," said Janie Davis, president and CEO of the American Lung Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties. "It gave her a thrill to know that she was doing something for the good of society. She understood the role of a board member and took it seriously."

Within the past year, there were a dozen organizations in which she held official positions, including LEAD San Diego Inc., United Way, the San Diego Blood Bank Foundation, the Rotary Club, the lung association, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Greater San Diego & Desert Area.

Ms. Tucker, a native of Los Angeles, came to San Diego to attend U.S. International University, now known as Alliant International University.

She served as president of the school's Association of Women Students and graduated with a bachelor's degree in humanities in 1968. Then she began a 17-year teaching career in the San Diego Unified School District.

Among the honors she received as she tenaciously battled her disease and took on a wealth of leadership roles was the Courage Award from the San Diego Business Journal.

On Aug. 31, 2002, her beloved San Diego Padres named her "President for a Day."

"She got to tour the new ballpark under construction and sit in the president's box during a Padres game, even visit the locker room and dugout," Fortune said. "The Padres also issued her the first personalized brick from the new ballpark."

In May, Fortune is scheduled to accept an award from the Salvation Army honoring her mother in "Women of Dedication" ceremonies.

In addition to her daughter, a San Diego resident, Ms. Tucker is survived by two granddaughters.

A celebration of life is pending in the parking lot at Qualcomm Stadium, Section G3. Donations are suggested to the Jamie Tucker Endowment Fund, Make-A-Wish Foundation of San Diego, 5151 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 110, San Diego, CA 92123.