Following World War II, Tom Tucker returned to San Diego, secured his degree, architecture license and learned the ropes while working for Richard George Wheeler. Along with Hal Sadler and Ed Bennett, the three Wheeler associates left the firm in 1957 to start Tucker, Sadler & Bennett.
Born in Ada, Oklahoma on December 24, 1923, Thomas Tucker moved to Escondido with his family at age 3. He graduated from Escondido Union High School. In 1943, he was drafted into the Army and deployed to Europe where he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Corporal Tucker was wounded in 1944 and later acknowledged with a Purple Heart.
Mr. Tucker arrived home in 1945 to work locally as a draftsman - including time with Samuel W. Hammill, AIA (circa 1948-55). Tucker became a licensed architect in 1955.
In October 1957, Tom Tucker, Hal Sadler and structural engineer Ed Bennett designed their first building together, the Mission Hills Safeway, from a small office over a garage in Ocean Beach. Shortly thereafter the trio left their employer, Richard George Wheeler & Associates, to go out on their own. From the design of that small supermarket, moonlighting while still employed in Wheeler’s office, Tucker, Sadler & Bennett was born. Many of their early contracts stemmed from their work with Safeway – a client they developed from Wheeler’s portfolio.
The firm went on to design some of San Diego's most prestigious projects including the renovation of the historic U. S. Grant Hotel, the regional headquarters buildings for Union Bank, Security Pacific National Bank, and Bank of America's downtown offices. The team also designed Rady Children's Hospital's Jean Hahn Surgical Pavilion, Beckman Center for Chemical Sciences at Scripps Research Institute, and the recent expansions of both the San Diego Convention Center and Terminal 2 of the San Diego International Airport.
The firm is still active having operated for more than 50 years and becoming one of the largest architecture and engineering practices in San Diego. The firm had produced hundreds of residential and commercial projects. Among their most notable contacts were the First National Bank corporate high-rise headquarters in downtown, the County Operations Building (now demolished), and the Fire Station for the City of San Diego. The Fire Station later received an American Institute of Architects Award of Honor in 1960, the first year that the organization began awarding architectural achievement.
For Richard George Wheeler & Associates go HERE
For Tucker, Sadler & Bennett go HERE
Tucker Residence (ca. 1952)
855 Chestnut Street, Escondido
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