Ex-Snohomish County chief and journalist Willis Tucker

Willis Tucker, Snohomish County's first executive, died at his Snohomish home yesterday afternoon. He was 77.

Tucker had battled prostrate cancer for months. In recent weeks, his strength had slipped sharply, friends said.

"He died peacefully with his family around him," said state Rep. Jeanne Edwards, D-Bothell, a longtime friend and former co-worker at the Everett Herald, where Tucker worked 15 years as an editor. "They said he finally had gotten at peace with it."

Tucker, a conservative Democrat, decided to swap journalism for public office in 1980. Snohomish County voters the previous year had adopted a home-rule charter which created a county executive and five-member County Council.

He took office in May 1980 and served three terms, retiring in December 1991.

Tucker grew up in Beards Fork, W.Va., where his father was a coal miner. He moved to Eastern Washington at age 14 to live with his grandfather in Coulee City.

When he graduated from Coulee City High School, he gave up a football scholarship to Gonzaga University to enlist in the Army during World War II. He spent three years with the military police, then returned home to marry his high school sweetheart, Annette Rhoades.

His newspaper work took Tucker from Coulee City to Portland to Snohomish, where he owned the Snohomish Tribune for eight years. In 1965, he became managing editor of the Western Sun, the Everett Herald's south Snohomish County edition.

As county executive, Tucker was known for his hands-off leadership style and the trust he placed in his employees.

But he was tough, too. When Tucker entered office, the county faced a $6 million revenue shortfall, so he cut programs, laid off staff and froze salaries. When he retired, the county was in good economic shape, with a healthy reserve.

Tucker is survived by his wife, three children and seven grandchildren.

Funeral services are to be held at 2 p.m. next Saturday at St. John's Episcopal Church, 913 2nd St., Snohomish.