Diana Erikainen Tucker
During high school my part time jobs included my Mom’s baby shop, Benny Leonard’s dime store, and Red Dot Foods. After graduation I continued for a short time at Red Dot in the office and potato chip plant.
I began working in the AMU Library the summer before school opened. I continued in the library until I left school & Alaska in December 1961. I married my best boyfriend airman Ken Tucker on January 29, 1961. I also did a short stint with the Spenard PUD Library and another part time job at Yukon Office Supply as accounts receivable clerk, which involved quintuplicate certified invoices for the military and a company drilling on the North Slope, Humble Oil. When Ken was discharged from the service, he went to Medford, OR to visit his folks. I was at work at the AMU Library when I got the call “Pack up and come on. I just can’t go back to that place”.
We stayed in Medford for 37 years where our daughter Sandy was born and grew up . I worked for the Medford Public Library and then the Southern Oregon State College Library. At SOSC I was able to take one class per term at the staff rate of $3 and then $5 per credit hour. I also worked 8 part time seasons as a tax preparer. In 1975 I completed a degree in accounting and passed the CPA exam.
I quit my college job, pulled out my retirement and went to work in public accounting. It was not a good fit for me. The first firm paid me less than the 2 men who started when I did, despite my extra duties & responsibilities. My coworker didn’t tell me until I was leaving. The next firm paid me fairly but my boss was a control freak. In 1980 I booked a continuing education class in Anchorage and attended the 20th reunion (my first trip back). And Glenda Rhodes told me the class wasn’t really in Anchorage, it was at Alyeska. Luckily my brother loaned me his dually pickup.
In 1983 I began working as an employer tax auditor for the Oregon Employment Department. Besides doing payroll audits, delinquent tax collections, independent contractor vs employee investigations and presentations to employer groups, I also represented the agency at administrative hearings. There were many interesting cases but two especially stand out. After my audit of a small trucking firm, the owners went to the Oregon legislature and got the law changed, exempting owner-operators hauling for common carriers, while the big firms spent their money on legal fees and unsuccessful appeals. The other case involved a business owner who hired street kids as coop members to run his business. It was considered a “democracy” but no matter how far the workers advanced in the coop, they never made minimum wage. It took a young woman with courage to file for unemployment and stand up to testify despite intimidation from the owner’s “skate boarder buddies hanging out in the park”. During this time I also took classes and in 1987 received MSBA in Business Administration (no more staff tuition rates).
December 1999 I retired, bought back 5 years of my retirement credits and we hit the road as full time RVers. April 2003 we settled in Salem, OR and in 2004 I began my part time temp work. I spent 5 years working for a CPA and I am on my 4th seasonal assignment with the Oregon Employment Department Tax Department Central Office. The math doesn’t come out because the jobs overlapped.
Family includes husband Ken (who would rather spend his money on car parts for the 1951 Studebaker he’s building than go to Anchorage with me to attend the reunion); Daughter Sandy and Darryl – Salem, OR; Grandson Jeff and Kristen with 2 year old Jackson – Salem, OR; Granddaughter Jennifer and Chris with 8 year old Javriel – Little Elm, TX; and Granddaughter Ashley – Orlando, Fl.
Other interests, besides family and before arthritis, included picture taking, boogie boarding, jet skiing, ATVs on the sand dunes. Now it’s picture taking, taking 1940 Ford street rod to car shows, reading and writing down some of my Territorial Kid Memories.
