John T. Tuck: The Namesake of our School

A new school was built in 1960-1961, originally to be called Pinecove School, but it was decided to dedicate it to the memory of John T. Tuck as the school was built on the back end of his farm. The land was previously owned by Tuck’s son Lawrie, who then sold the land to Mr. John Cowan, who in turn, sold it to the Board of Education for the site of John T. Tuck Public School.

John Thomas Tuck was born January 14, 1872 in England and came to Canada when he was fourteen years old along with his parents, three brothers, and a sister. He and Fannie Tuck, a distant cousin, were married in April of 1900 and by the age of 28, John T. Tuck owned and operated their own farm on the east side of Walker’s Line. The land where our school stands was used for growing mainly market gardening vegetables and some fruit. When Tuck retired, he sold the land to two of his sons. In his spare time, he enjoyed hunting, was a member of the old soccer football team, and was the manager of the Strathcona Football Club.

John T. Tuck realized the importance of a good education and in 1910 ran for election of the Burlington Board of School Trustees. At that time, there were only two schools: the Central Public School, and the Port Nelson Public School. In 1913, it was decided that a new school was needed and a new Board of Trustees was elected. John T. Tuck was the first chairman and remained chairman for more than 20 years. He also gave all of his children the option to go to university which was not a common practice at the time.