Mark Tucker Named Lake Cities Chamber’s Citizen of the Year

Sitting at his table during the annual Lake Cities Chamber of Commerce awards luncheon in February, Mark Tucker had no idea of the surprise he was about to get. Asked to represent the Lake Cities Independent School District because others couldn’t make it, he soon learned the actual reason when he was announced as the 2024 Citizen of the Year. 

In 2024 alone, Tucker served food at the Thousand Oaks Church Back to School Fair, Corinth Elementary Fall Festival, and a fundraiser supporting Lake Dallas’ Chere Barboza’s fight against breast cancer. He co-hosted the Tucker Shay Field Goal Challenge for the Lake Dallas Quarterback Club and served as a collection point for water and other items for people in Sanger affected by a tornado. He also cooked every Wednesday night at Lake Shore Baptist Church.

The long-time owner of Mark Tucker Insurance in Hickory Creek has been a Chamber member since starting his agency in 2001. He has been on the Lake Cities Independent School District Board of Directors since 2018 and secretary since 2023. Since his election to the school board, he has learned a lot.

“I knew they took care of the school district but didn’t know what their role was,” he said. “The biggest thing I’ve learned is the board doesn’t really take care of the day-to-day operations of the district. They are responsible for the superintendent and the budget, but they don’t run the day-to-day. It’s a misnomer that we hire and fire and all those things, because we don’t. 

“We try to look at it from a 10,000-foot level and make sure we hire the right superintendent. She’s our one and only employee. 

While Tucker was born and raised in Richardson, his wife Kristi is a life-long resident of Lake Dallas, where they moved after getting married in 1988. Kristi’s father was principal of Lake Dallas High School, and her mother taught for 30 years in the district. They have three children aged 35, 32, and 23.