TriCities Hospital chaplain reflects on trailblazing career during Women's History Month

It was after traveling the world with her husband, Raymond, who served in the U.S. Air Force, that Rev. Sylvia Tucker found her true calling.

After stops in Japan and Greece among other locations, Rev. Tucker, her husband Raymond and their four children settled in Disputanta, Va. Rev. Tucker worked for a few years at a bank in Richmond before taking a job in finance at what was then known as John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell, Va. And while she has remained at TriCities Hospital for 42 years, it’s not crunching numbers that has kept her there.

When she was hired by the hospital, Rev. Tucker had just completed seminary school and was volunteering in her free time to visit with patients. The chief executive officer at the time took notice, and when the hospital’s chaplain retired shortly after she started, Rev. Tucker was offered the job. She accepted, and became the first African American hospital chaplain in the state of Virginia in 1985.

“I love being a chaplain,” Rev. Tucker said. “I love visiting those who are weak. I want to go in that room and give them strength, compassion and love. It’s what chaplaincy is all about. It’s been a beautiful part of my life.”  

Rev. Tucker has been active in the Civil Rights Movement throughout her life and has become a prominent figure in the community for her work not only as a chaplain and pastor, but as an activist. She was mentored by well-known figures like Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks with whom she served on the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) board.

“Rosa Parks had such a kind spirit, and she told me to always remember that I had a kind spirit, too, but I had to speak up,” she said.

In 2000, she was appointed the SCLC National Chaplain, becoming the first woman to hold the position.

“That was a real honor to be the first in this awesome organization that Dr. Martin Luther King built,” she said. “I’ve always been an advocate for treating people fairly and equally.”

Rev Tucker earned her Doctor of Theology in 2010. In 2017, she received the Meritorious Service Award from the Hospital and Healthcare Association and in 2020, the TriCities Hospital Chapel was named in her honor as the Rev. Dr. Sylvia Tucker Chapel.   

In her four decades as chaplain at TriCities, Rev. Tucker has led countless prayers and devotionals and lifted the spirits of thousands of patients and colleagues. Along the way, she has christened newborn babies and performed weddings for patients, coworkers and military couples about to part ways due to deployment.

One of the most memorable experiences of Rev. Tucker’s career was ministering to a young man suffering from a rare cancer. With no family support, she visited him each day to say prayers and read scripture. As he became sicker, he asked if God could forgive him for the mistakes he had made in his life.    

“I assured him that God loves all of us and forgives,” Rev. Tucker recalled.

Soon after, he made a last request of his doctor – to be baptized.

Surrounded by doctors, nurses and staff, Tucker baptized him in the hospital’s rehabilitation area.

“There wasn’t a dry eye,” she said. “When he came up out of the water, there was like a glow.”

A couple days later, Rev. Tucker recalled the young man being happy and thanking her.

“I told him that God loves him and whatever happened, he was going to receive him,” she said. “And that next day he passed.”

Even after 40 years, Rev. Tucker isn’t slowing down.

“Today is a day that I feel great. I do my work. My patients love me, and I love them so much, so I’m not thinking about retirement today,” she said.  "Sometimes a chaplain is the only friend some of our patients have, so it is really, really rewarding and I thank God that he allows me to do such a beautiful work every day.”