Kelly Wallace Tucker (71) of Effingham

Kelly Wallace Tucker, 71, passed away peacefully at his home on Saturday, December 28, 2019, in Effingham, Illinois, surrounded by family and friends after a brief but courageous struggle with cancer.

He was born to parents Wallace and Moynell Tucker on September 28, 1948, in Effingham, Illinois. He married Mary Jo West, his high school sweetheart, in 1969, who survives him. Kelly is also survived by his children, Jonna, Jackie, Josh (Rachel) and Jacob (Heather), his siblings, John Tucker, Julie (Darrell) Hoffman and Jeanne (Missy) Tucker and the large and loving West family which includes numerous brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces & nephews and great- nieces & great-nephews.

Kelly attended Effingham High School and graduated from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale with a Masters in 1970. After graduating, he taught at Effingham High School for a short period of time before joining his mother’s growing accounting business. He has been an accountant and tax preparer for over 40 years and successfully completed the Enrolled Agent (EA) program. Kelly was extremely proud of the family-owned Tucker Accounting Service and dedicated to his partners, Darrell Hoffman and Josh Tucker, and his work family.

Kelly will be fondly remembered by family and friends as a loving husband and father, with a great sense of humor, an outstanding accountant who loved his work, music, movies, politics, football, cooking, infomercials, competitiveness during family game nights and his true and life-long love for the game of golf instilled by his father and passed along to his sons.

Visitation will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Thursday, January 2 at Johnson Funeral Home in Effingham. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, January 3. Burial will be held in Woodlawn Cemetery in Effingham.

In lieu of sending flowers, the family prefers that people make donations in support of the Lake Sara Forever Fund https://www.enrichingourcommunity.org/Funds/lake-sara-forever-fund and E.A.R.S. Effingham, Illinois at http://effinghamanimalrescue.com/. Online condolences may be shared by clicking here.