Caroline Hamblin Tucker ’53
Emerita Trustee

Caroline Hamblin Tucker '53, emerita trustee, passed away on October 25, 2025, surrounded by family.

Tucker was a proud Knox alumna, devoted scholar, and lifelong educator. After earning her degree in biology from Knox, she earned her master’s degree in zoology from Pennsylvania State University before working as a biochemist in Seattle, Washington. After marrying Dr. James Tucker, Tucker changed careers and devoted her life to teaching.

She taught elementary school children in the Richmond, Virginia, area for nearly 40 years and always pushed her students to pursue excellence. Her passion for writing, reading, and travel remained with her throughout her life, as did her passion for social justice. In 2000, she coordinated hosting the nearly all-white Knox College Choir at her church in Virginia and helped organize a joint choir concert featuring the Knox College Choir and the predominantly African-American Virginia Union Choir inside the Virginia Union University auditorium.

Tucker was named a general trustee in 1985. During her tenure as a trustee, she served on the search committee that hired the College’s 16th President, Frederick C. Nahm, in 1994. She also delivered remarks at the installation of President Nahm, remarking that her parents, too, were teachers and, much like Knox, education was “the family business.”

In addition to serving as a Knox emerita trustee, Tucker also served on the boards of trustees of Saint Paul's College and the Richmond Community Board of United Virginia Bank.

Tucker was interred alongside her husband at Arlington National Cemetery, and a celebration of her life was held in early March 2026.