WOOSTER — Mary Jane ?Tuck? Gustafson of Wooster died peacefully Wednesday morning, January 25, 2012, at Brookdale Senior Living, in the company of family. She was 85.
Born September 27, 1926, and raised in Wilkinsburg, PA. She was the only child of Edward Dudley Tucker and Mary Strang Tucker. As a teenager she and her friends spent many Saturdays taking the trolley to the Stanley Theater in downtown Pittsburgh to enjoy the big band and jazz groups that performed the matinees between the ?B? rated movies. It was the music she loved for the rest of her life.
After graduating from Wilkinsburg High School, she attended Northwestern University, where she met her future husband, Paul Moody Gustafson. They married in 1946, moved to Grand Forks, ND and then to St. Paul, MN. In St. Paul she was active in the PTA, the Girl and Boy Scouts, and the League of Women Voters. She and Paul had many close friends and enjoyed square dancing, bridge clubs and going to night clubs to listen to the likes of Ella Fitzgerald. They were members of a ?yacht? club that sailed small flat-bottomed boats on the numerous area lakes.
In 1964 they moved to Hiram, Ohio where she continued to be a nurturing homemaker. She also worked outside of the home; first as a secretary in the Music Department of Hiram College, later as an assistant librarian. She culminated her employment as the Director of Career Services.
In 1985, Tuck and Paul moved to Wooster, where she (they) immersed themselves in the community by doing volunteer work for the Wayne County Red Cross, Meals On Wheels, the Wooster Community Hospital as well as being active in the Westminster Presbyterian Church. They were avid supporters of the Wooster Symphony and the Fighting Scots basketball team. She became involved during the infancy of Hospice & Palliative Care of Greater Wayne County. During her 20 years of volunteering, she watched it grow and become an accepted patient treatment philosophy. In 2003, Tuck received the Kearney Award in recognition of being the Volunteer of the Year, at Wayne County Hospice.
Tuck and Paul?s international travels took them to Malaysia, Thailand, India, China, Turkey, Italy, Great Britain, and Sweden. They were active in Elderhostel for many years and through Westminster Presbyterian Church were involved with Borderlinks in the Texas/Mexico area.
She was a loving wife (of 65 years), mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Her life of active volunteering was a reflection of her concern and love of the human condition. Tuck?s love and guidance will be missed.
Her family is very grateful for the assistance and care provided from Hospice in her time of need. The family also thanks the Brookdale staff for their care of Tuck.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Paul. She is survived by daughter Karen Rose of Hayward, CA; sons Eric (Karen) Gustafson of Pleasant Prairie, WI; Bret Gustafson of Kansas City, MO; Mark (Marilyn) Gustafson of Wooster, OH; six grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
A celebration of her life will be held at Westminster Presbyterian Church House on the College of Wooster Campus on Saturday, February 11, at 1 PM.
Following the service there will be a time of fellowship to visit with the family.
McIntire, Davis & Green Funeral Home, 216 E. Larwill St. Wooster, is handling the arrangements.
The family requests memorials be made to Hospice & Palliative Care of Greater Wayne County or Central American Medical Outreach in Orrville.

Memorial Contributions
Hospice & Palliative Care of Greater Wayne Co., 2525 Back Orrville Rd., Wooster, OH 44691 or to Central American Medical Outreach, 322 wESTWOOD aVE., oRRVILLE, oh 44667

Service
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. in Mackey Hall, Westminster Presbyterian Church

Visitation
Following the service