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BOB TUCKNOTT DECIDED knee replacement surgery probably spelled the end to his giant slalom ski racing hobby a few years ago.
He was in his late 70s.
Now 82, throwing himself down frozen mountains at breakneck speeds on two narrow boards is about all Tucknott has cut from a schedule that would exhaust people 50 years younger.
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“I’m still very active,” Tucknott said in a vast understatement.
The Livermore electrician, who lives in Pleasanton, doesn’t talk like an 82-year-old teetering on retirement. He still runs his own business — Tucknott Electric Co. — and pilots search and rescue missions for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
He also donates time to Angel Flight West, a nonprofit that flies cancer patients and other people in need in rural areas to hospitals or wherever else they need to be. Tucknott figures he’s piloted about 450 or 500 of those volunteer missions.
The father of four and grandfather of eight flies his plane out of Livermore Municipal Airport at least two or three times a week. He spends lots of time at the sheriff’s air squadron hangar in Livermore, where he was once commander of the Western States Sheriff’s Air Squadron Association.
“It’s a gorgeous hangar,” Tucknott said. “I know; I wired it.”
Fifty years of flying — for others
“Next February will mark my 50th year flying, with a good medical record,” Tucknott said. “No citations. No problems. I like flying and, if I fly for a purpose, all the better.”
Tucknott goes out on the occasional search and rescue mission and flies first-responders’ supplies to wildfires all over Northern California. Still, outside of the occasional lost person around Del Valle Regional Park or Sunol Regional Wilderness, there’s not a lot of search and rescue work in Alameda County, for which he’s worked 36 years.
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“It’s hard for people to get lost in Oakland,” Tucknott said. “Still, it happens.” He remembered flying out over the ocean and spotting a surfer way out there who’d been blown off his board.
“We called the Coast Guard, and they got him, even got his surfboard,” Tucknott said. “Winds were heavy that day — we almost went back in. That was a life saved.”
It’s obvious the flights for people in need are a great point of pride for Tucknott. He spoke of a schoolteacher with brain cancer with whom he became close, taking him for chemo from Pine Mountain Lake in the Sierra, not far from Yosemite, to Stanford, then home again.
The patient needed a fairly large number of treatments, and the service wasn’t sure they could cover all the flights. Tucknott sent out an email to his fellow pilots, and all the volunteer flights were spoken for within two hours.
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“I did eight,” Tucknott said. “We eventually lost him. He was one of the few I got close with. He was a happy guy, a great guy. I went to his funeral, and it was very emotional for me.
“That’s a reward you don’t get from money. I get my reward when I land them. I get a good feeling.” In most cases, the people he flies don’t have insurance that will pay for travel for treatment, frequently in Sacramento or at Stanford.
“Lots of cancer and lots of kids,” Tucknott said. “I prefer taking the kids. They’re so fun to be with, even though they’re sick.”
Helping others keeps Tucknott young
Tucknott is also past president of two Rotary chapters, members of which he still spends time with. He’s at Dublin Rotary nearly every day as part of its service club. He flies members to various other cities around the U.S., where they mingle with other chapters.
“The other club hosts us, we see the sights, there’s lots of wonderful, generous people,” he said.
Also on his long list of impressive affiliations is a stint on the board of Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay. Tucknott said he’d probably be a rich man if he didn’t spend so much time serving others.
“People say, without purpose, you allow your body to deteriorate. I have to stay in good shape because, if my heart goes, I can’t fly.”
Bob Tucknott
“That’s my success — what I do for others,” he said. “I think it keeps me young. My kids say, ‘When are you going to retire?’ I have to keep flying. All my kids live in Southern California or Arizona.”
Tucknott is a big believer in keeping his body as healthy as possible.
“People say, without purpose, you allow your body to deteriorate,” he said. “I have to stay in good shape because, if my heart goes, I can’t fly.”
Which is something he doesn’t figure will happen anytime soon.
What does a longer lifespan mean to you? Two talented columnists tag-team every Friday to tackle the challenges that inform your choices — whether you’re pushing 17 or 70. Recent Stanford Center on Longevity Visiting Scholar Susan Nash looks at life experiences through an acerbic personal lens, while longtime writer and health reporter Tony Hicks takes the macro view to examine how society will change as the aging population grows ever larger. Check in every Friday to expand your vision of living the long game and send us your feedback, column suggestions and ideas for future coverage to newsroom@baycitynews.com.
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