At 105, Roanoke’s Venus Tucker Is Thankful For Wisdom

Looking back, 1914 was a year of many changes and moments that would affect the world. In 1914, the First World War began, Ford Motor Company announced an eight-hour workday, the first stone to build the Lincoln Memorial was put into place, one of the greatest boxers of all times, Joe Louis, was born. 

Also in Alabama in 1914, a girl (one of six children) would be born to Payton and Nancy Hawthorne. Her name, Venus Hawthorne. Later she would become Venus Tucker and move to Roanoke. Tucker grew up on a farm and during that time like many other children of her generation, she picked cotton, planted corn and looked after the farm animals. She can remember the hogs, cows, chickens and mules she watched over. 

An African proverb goes, “a village without the elderly is like a well without water.” At 105 years of age, Tucker is that well. 

Growing up in the south more than 100 years ago, Tucker says, “We were just regular children doing what children do and that’s play.” She walked to school with a group of children. She could not remember the number of miles she walked, but estimated it was at least nine from the farm to town. “I don’t remember the distance to the school but I sure do remember we had to walk.” She would attend Randolph County Training School. This memory is vivid because it was during this period she would ride a bus to school. Randolph School was unique because it was a Rosenwald School. Julian Rosenwald, part owner of Sears-Roebuck, built these schools. He and Booker T. Washington collaborated to build schools for African Americans following slavery to provide African American children access to better education. 

Mrs. Tucker is not someone who enjoys just sitting around. After graduating she went to the Virgin Islands – an African American woman in the Deep South during the 1920s visits the islands. She faced a major culture shock. She was fascinated by the abundance of water. While flying over the water to the Virgin Islands, Tucker remembered thinking, “We will never drink up all of that water.” She visited the Virgin Islands twice. The first time to visit a cousin; the second time with her husband to visit his daughter from a previous marriage. “The first time I went I was Venus Hawthorne, but the second time I went I was Venus Tucker.”

Her husband Wesley Tucker was an Alabama native, too. They moved to Roanoke in the 1930s. Tucker says, “we moved to Virginia when I was in my 20s, I’m sure of that.” They bought a home on Florida Avenue, and Wesley Tucker went to work for the railroad. Venus Tucker would get a job working at the Radford Arsenal weighing gunpowder. 

At 105, Tucker has many stories and moments that stick out but learning she weighed gun powder was a bit of a shock. She says her favorite and most fulfilling job was working for the Virginia Employment Commission. Here she helped hundreds of people find jobs and helped prepare them for work. She retired from the Virginia Employment Commission. A smile fills her face when she reflects on that time. Tucker is a long-time member of Maple Street Baptist Church. She says her church is an important part of her life. Every Sunday you can find her at Maple Street in a glamourous dress. No hat, though. I posed the question of the importance of dressing up and going to church. She says, “the important part is first believing in God and going to church. Dressing nice just comes with it.” 

Tucker describes herself as a rambler and a mover. “Life can get boring sometime now because I can’t just get up and can’t go like I used to” but she still keeps a great spirit. Tucker has 95-year-old sister, Dorothy Moore, who lives in Greensboro. They talk often and visit each other when they can. 

Tucker’s advice to younger generations: “Be patient and have faith in God. In the Bible in Job 12:12 it says, ‘is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?’ “It’s safe to say Mrs. Tucker’s long life has brought an understanding on how to live.