LINKS TO TERRE HAUTE ’ S PAST
Ralph Tucker : ‘ Never an old man living in the past ’
WORDS : MIKE LUNSFORD
EDITOR ’ S NOTE : This story is part of the series , “ Links to Terre Haute ’ s Past ,” by writer Mike Lunsford that highlights the lives of people who share Terre Haute ’ s historic Highland Lawn Cemetery as their burial ground . Look for another story that links us to Terre Haute ’ s past in the next issue of Terre Haute Living . To reach Lunsford email hickory913 @ gmail . com .
Ralph Tucker , elected mayor of Terre Haute a record five times , has been described as both sinner and saint . On one hand , he was the nattily-dressed “ man on the street ,” the consummate politician so in tune with voters that he could accurately call elections long before the polls closed . His belief in rewarding friends through political patronage , his white suit and toothy smile , his red convertible , seen all over town — from house fires to grand openings — and his unsuccessful bid to be Indiana ’ s governor , defined , for many , who he was .
So too the winged angel in bas-relief that serves as Tucker ’ s tombstone is telling ; It sits over him not far below Highland Lawn ’ s impressive Romanesque chapel in a small triangular plot in Section 4 . At one time the sculptured block sat over a dormitory window at the Chauncey Rose Orphan ’ s Home on Wabash Avenue ; Tucker walked under the stone as a boy for nearly a half-dozen years , scrubbed the doorway steps nearby as one of his chores . When the old orphanage faced the wrecking ball , the mayor saw to it that the angel was saved to mark the graves of the children who had died there over the years . Seven of them , and he , are buried just a few feet apart .
Certainly , Tucker is not easily defined . Not just the glad-handing power broker of smoke-filled rooms , sometimes called the “ Jimmy Walker of the Midwest ”; not just a Hoosier Horatio Alger story come true ; not just the veteran pitchman who enjoyed the camaraderie of the occasional tavern and the music of the old Trianon Ballroom . He wasn ’ t just a gourmet cook or just a good dancer , or just a devoted husband , father and grandfather , either . He could be defensive , parochial , inflexible , yet he also thought innovatively , invited progress , and hated criticism of a town he truly loved .
Mayor Ralph Tucker takes the oath of office in one of his five mayoral terms . At left , Tucker marches in the annual Fourth of July parade on Wabash Avenue . ( Courtesy of Vigo County Historical Museum )
March 2022 • Terre Haute Living 53