Rayetta (Suzie) Tucker, 69, of Wood, SD passed away on Thursday, November 27, 2025 at the Winner Regional Long-Term Care Facility in Winner, SD.  Memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 11:00AM at the Wood Community Hall in Wood, SD.  Burial will follow in the Evergreen Cemetery near Wood.  Visitation will be held one hour prior to memorial service.

Rayetta Joan Davis was born on September 29, 1956, in Hardin, Montana, to Ray China Davis and Mary Joan (Williams) Davis. When she was only three weeks old, she was with her Grandma Zylpha Miller at the family farm. At the time, the song "Little Suzie" was number one on the country music charts, and Zylpha began calling her "Suzie." The name stayed with her for life, and from then on, the world knew her simply as Suzie.

Suzie spent her early childhood in the Hardin and Crow Agency areas of Montana. While her father worked at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, she and her siblings roamed the fields, playing "ghosts in the graveyard," and making the kinds of memories that can only be made in wide open country.

After a number of years in Crow Agency, her family moved to the Badlands near Interior, South Dakota. She later attended high school in Wall and graduated in the class of 1974. Afterward, she spent a year at Black Hills State, where she met the love of her life, Wade Tucker. After only a month of dating, they both knew they had found the person they were meant to spend their lives with and quickly became engaged. A severe blizzard postponed their original wedding date, but on April 5, 1975, Suzie and Wade were married.

Suzie embraced life on the Tucker family farm in Wood, South Dakota, and together she and Wade built a life rooted in love, hard work, and devotion. They were blessed with four children, Brandy Michelle, Lennie Allen, Jessie Ray, and Wylie Shea, and throughout 50 plus years of marriage they created countless memories on the ranch. She helped Wade in many ways and was always caring for her family. During harvest, she often delivered meals to the fields, cooked with a full heart and a steady hand. When neighbors came to help, they were always treated with a special meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, her famous homemade buns, and a cold-water chocolate cake.

A woman of remarkable talent, Suzie could accomplish anything she set her mind to. She was a gifted gardener, florist, baker, cook, teacher, seamstress, artist, singer, and even a skilled carpenter. She found joy in simple things and loved ice-skating, swimming, walking through fresh snow, and especially the cardinals that returned to her yard year after year.

Suzie was also involved with and dearly loved being a part of the Order of the Eastern Star. She held many positions throughout the 44 years and made lifelong friends while focusing on charity, service, and fellowship.

Suzie was also the life of the party. She never missed a chance to have fun, especially on Halloween, when she and her closest friends dressed in full costume and traveled to nearby communities just to make people laugh. She enjoyed a good shot, a good song, and a good dance, and she could keep the party going as long as the music continued. Her love of music created so many treasured memories, including road trips with the radio turned all the way up while she sang along to "Spirit in the Sky," "Draggin' the Line," and especially "Last Kiss," a song she shared as a special bond with her first grandchild, Chase Fairbanks. It remains a mystery how the speakers in that old Cadillac survived.

Above everything else, Suzie was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. Her family was her world. She rarely missed any of her children's events, and you could always hear her cheering from the stands, even when she might not have needed to be quite so loud. She adored her grandchildren, and many of her best qualities live on through them today.

Suzie was a fighter who was resilient, strong, and determined. She faced many challenges during her life, but her greatest battle came in her final years. After a long and difficult struggle with aphasia, Suzie passed away peacefully on Thanksgiving morning, November 27, 2025, at the age of 69. As hard as it is to say goodbye, we can all find comfort in knowing she is free, at peace, and no longer fighting.

Suzie is survived by her husband, Wade Tucker, and their children Brandy (Myles) Fairbanks, Lennie (Ashley) Tucker, Jessie (Lenae) Tucker, and Wylie (Haley) Tucker. She leaves behind her beloved grandchildren, Chase (Cass) Fairbanks, Casey (Cody) Barber, Cain (Aleida) Fairbanks, Taya Tucker, Layla Tucker, Levi Tucker, Jadyn Jensen, Jacey Jensen, Aubrey Tucker, and Jameson Tucker, along with six great grandchildren, Alle Barber, Chloe Barber, Banks Barber, Josie Fairbanks, Millie Fairbanks, and Rayetta Fairbanks. She is also survived by her mother-in-law Ila Tucker, siblings Ray Davis, Linda Davis, and Rudi Davis.

She was preceded in death by her father Ray Davis, her mother Joan Davis, and her father-in-law Allen Tucker.