Randy Tucker
photo by GPS Photographer
Randy Tucker, former Girls Preparatory School headmaster, was killed Monday morning in an accident on I-75 in Bradley County.
Mr. Tucker, 70, retired last year and was working as interim head of school at Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tn.
Mr. Tucker was traveling north just before 10 a.m. when his Porsch went off the left shoulder, hit a guardrail and flipped several times. He was taken to Skyridge Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
A statement from GPS read:
"Girls Preparatory School learned today that our former long-term headmaster Stanley R. “Randy” Tucker, Jr., was killed in an automobile accident. He is survived by his wife Terri, son Trey, and daughter Taylor.
"Over the course of a 26-year tenure at GPS that began in 1987 and ended in 2013, he was known as an innovator, a teacher’s teacher, and as a leader and advocate for girls’ education."
“His lasting legacy at GPS goes far beyond the introduction of technology or the construction of buildings that doubled the campus,” said Interim Head of School Dr. Susan Groesbeck. “His legacy is the empowerment of young women to make a powerful impact on their world.”
Board Chair Nini Davenport, speaking on behalf of the school community, said, “Our heartfelt love and support go to his family as well as to the thousands of current students and alumnae whose lives he touched.”
Scott Wilson, Baylor School headmaster, said, "It is with a deep sense of sadness and personal loss that I relate the tragic death as the result of a car accident of Randy Tucker, former GPS headmaster and a good friend. Randy was serving Battle Ground Academy in Nashville as interim headmaster this year following a long and distinguished career that included an amazing twenty-six year tenure at GPS. I had gotten to know Randy before I returned to Baylor through the Southern Headmasters Association. He welcomed me to that association in the warmest manner possible, and he was the consummate friend and professional as our tenures overlapped here in Chattanooga. As I have said to many people, Baylor enjoyed a very positive relationship with GPS during the past several years because Randy Tucker allowed it to happen. Baylor will find the right way to extend our sympathies to the Tucker and GPS families."
To see a profile article and audio interview with Mr. Tucker last year upon his retirement from GPS, click here: