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Searching for the soul of Newfoundland: Otto Tucker remembered

It's hard to say who made the bigger impression on who — Otto Tucker on Newfoundland, or Newfoundland on Otto Tucker.

The two have been so intertwined, Tucker's passing on Tuesday at the age of 92 proved to be the only thing to separate him from the province he championed and celebrated his entire life.

His accolades and achievements, if heaped upon one another, would form a miniature mountain: television actor, author, the Canada 125 medal, an honorary doctorate from Memorial University, the Heritage Award of the Newfoundland Historical Society, the Order of Newfoundland in 2004, the Order of Canada in 2006.

Trinity Bay beginnings

But before the flood of medals, Tucker was simply a boy, growing up in an outport in a time few of us can still recall.

Born in Winterton, Trinity Bay in 1923, his love for education was sparked in its one-room schoolhouse — Tucker would go on to become a teacher, a principal, earn a doctorate in education from the University of Toronto, and be appointed professor at several universities, including Memorial.

Winterton also proved to foster his inner raconteur and historian.

"Everybody was a storyteller out there. Moreover, the very natural environment was a virtual laboratory, conducive to developing in a young boy a powerful curiosity," Tucker told the crowd at a 1997 Memorial University convocation.

"It became natural to study tombstones. And one old man observed, 'if young Otto Tucker dies,it won't be sad to carry him to the graveyard. Because that's where he spends most of his time anyway!' "

Tucker credited those tombstones for beginning what he deemed a "lifetime crusade in search of what author Cyril Poole calls, the Newfoundland soul."

Bringing history to light

For Tucker, that soul could be found by reaching back in time, to the early settlers of Newfoundland.

He founded the Wessex Society of Newfoundland in mid-1980s, an association dedicated to promoting this province's ties to the West Country of England, from where about 60 per cent of 18th century settlers to this province came from.

"I initiated it, really, and got other people interested in it. We thought that we'd start even just as a little club, made up of people who were interested in this kind of thing — and it blossomed into a big society," Tucker told the CBC in 2007, sounding almost surprised at his ability to connect people together to a larger cause.

The society's momentum is still strong today with regular meetings, feeding off Tucker's legacy and energy that were only beginning to fade when he stepped down in 2007 after 23 years at its helm.

"Well gee, I'll be 84 my birthday. It's time to start slowing down. I'm only beginning to slow down now, after all those years," said Tucker.

Silent night

Despite that admission of the ravages of time, Tucker's unique charm continued to shine though.

When visited by CBC carolers in 2011, the 88-year-old Tucker beamed as they sang his favourite hymn, Silent Night.

But as it ended, and the carolers about to leap to another song, Tucker good-naturedly butted in with a request: to sing the song again, this time, from him: his voice still strong, clear and melodic, as he sung the hymn's words of tranquility and hope.

Those lyrics now deeper in meaning with his voice, his contributions, his soul, silenced.

Sleep in heavenly peace, Otto Tucker.