COMMUNITY NEWS

Merricks to mark Memorial Day Monday

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As is longstanding tradition, hundreds of people representing dozens of local organizations will line up on Monday for Merrick’s Memorial Day parade, weather permitting.

Members of Merrick’s American Legion Post, other veterans’ groups, fire departments, school marching bands, civic organizations, houses of worship, Girl and Boy Scouts, and sports teams as well as local elected officials will assemble at 8:45 a.m. at Veterans Plaza, between Merrick and Brooklyn avenues. The parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. and head north on Merrick Avenue to Lee Avenue.

Grand Marshal Leonard Tucker, a U.S. Navy veteran, will lead the procession. Originally from Brooklyn, Tucker joined the Navy after high school and was stationed in Illinois and Virginia. A seaman second class, Tucker worked on ships, taught his fellow sailors to make safe landings, and played baseball and football for the Navy. He received an honorable discharge in 1947.

Following his service, Tucker earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees on the G.I. Bill from New York University and became a teacher. He taught emotionally disturbed children at Bellevue Hospital for 11 years, and later was chairman of the physical education department at Brooklyn’s Wingate High School, where he also coached baseball, swimming and soccer. Tucker eventually became the head high school basketball referee in New York City and the city’s soccer commissioner.

After retiring, he continued to teach for several years in the physical education department at Queensborough Community College.

Tucker and his wife, Betty, have been married for 62 years, and they have two sons and seven grandchildren. He has been a legionnaire for more than 40 years, fulfilling various duties as service officer. He also volunteers with the AHRC, a nonprofit Nassau County-wide organization, teaching exercise and conditioning to adults with a range of physical and cognitive disabilities. When vacationing in Florida, he volunteers for the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind.