Tucker Adam Francis, 19, died on Jan. 31 in a snorkeling accident in the Virgin Islands. He lost consciousness while free diving, a condition called “shallow-water blackout.” He was spending the winter of his gap year working as the chef on Tabor Academy’s schooner, the Tabor Boy, during the Caribbean Studies program. In the fall he was headed to Santa Clara University to study engineering.

Tucker was a joyous, kind young man with twinkling blue eyes and an infectious smile. He was happiest when doing anything with family and friends, and loved to ride his Ninja motorcycle, build a drone, whack a golf ball at Kittansett, fix anything mechanical, create a cool new gizmo out of carbon fiber, gobble a huge plate of sushi at Turks, kiteboard, scuba dive, ski, play lacrosse or work out to the thump of loud rap. On a moment’s notice he could whip up a mean pan of fried rice or stir-fried pasta, perfectly grill a platter of flat-iron steak or bake a batch of chocolate-chip cookies for a gang of his friends. Local residents may have enjoyed his cooking last summer at “Tucker and Zack’s Snack Shack” at the Piney Point Beach Club or last fall at Kate’s Eats.

The first 12 years of his life were spent in Locust, New Jersey, where he attended the Rumson Country Day School. Tucker and his family moved to Marion in 2009, then set off on a 13-month sailing adventure to Nova Scotia, the Caribbean and Central America. Upon returning, he was welcomed into seventh and eighth grades by Friends Academy in North Dartmouth. Tucker then attended high school at Tabor Academy as a day student, where his personality and confidence blossomed – academically, athletically and musically. The new “Maker Space” at Tabor was one of his favorite places, where he learned to weld, use a 3D printer, design electrical circuits, build electronics and teach younger students his new-found passions. During two summers he was employed as the cook on the Tabor Boy for orientation cruises around Buzzards Bay, where his love deepened for the vessel, its crew and Marion’s home waters. This past November he crewed on the schooner as it sailed from Marion to Bermuda and on to the Virgin Islands, delighted to be part of the team that included some of his best friends and most respected mentors.

Tucker’s parents, Peter and Jennifer, are Marion natives, and his sister, Holly, attends college at Stanford University. Grandpa Earl Briggs and his wife Mimi also live in Marion, as does his Uncle David, with cousin Christopher nearby in Wareham. Close family members also include the Briggses in Sherborn and Boston; the Dades in Norwich, Vermont, San Francisco, California, and Boston; the Zinns in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Vail, Colorado, and Bozeman Montana; the Dowlings in Timmonsville, South Carolina; the Kunze/Dades in Seattle, Washington; Nancy Francis in Aiken, South Carolina; the Hamills in Richmond, Virginia and New York City; the Roberts in London, England; and the many members of the Francis and Huber families near and far.

No words or gestures will ever fill the hole created by the loss of this amazing young man, but the entire Francis family is immensely appreciative of the love and support from the many friends and families who were touched by Tucker around the world. A celebration of Tucker’s life will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Tucker’s memory to the Tabor Boy Deckhouse Fund, as this space on the schooner is at the heart of crew life aboard, and it will need to be replaced in the near future. The image of Tabor Boy crews gathering for decades to come in the new deckhouse that Tucker helped “build” is a happy one and would make him proud.