Category: Articles and News

Physicians are looking into three possible causes that led to the unexpected death of an Esko High School senior early Saturday morning, according to the student’s mother.

Barbara Krzenski said her 18-year-old son, Jordan Tucker, may have died from an undiagnosed heart arrhythmia, a virus that affected his heart, or Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which causes electrical abnormalities in the heart.

“There’s no definite conclusion, other than it was his heart,” Krzenski said this morning.

About 300 students attended a candlelight vigil for Tucker on Wednesday night, and 600 people gathered for the visitation earlier that day, Krzenski said. Tucker’s funeral was scheduled for this afternoon in Cloquet.

(c)2008 Duluth News-Tribune

By Janna Goerdt

and Steve Kuchera

news tribune staff writers

Students wearing blaze orange jackets, vests, shirts and hats trickled out of Esko’s Lincoln High School on Tuesday afternoon after two days of school grieving for a lost classmate.

The attire was in honor of Jordan L. Tucker, 18, an honor student and athlete who died unexpectedly in his sleep early Saturday. The subdued emotions were felt by the many students who knew and loved “Tucker,” as everyone called the well-liked senior.

“Today, probably 60 or

70 percent of our student body are dressed in blaze orange in his honor,” Principal Greg Hexum said Tuesday of the gregarious student who co-founded the school’s “blaze orange Fridays” during deer hunting season.

“He was the kind of guy who crossed a lot of social boundaries and got along with a variety of people,” Hexum said. “He had a low-key, laid-back demeanor that appealed to a lot of people. In addition to that he was a real gentleman. He could get along with anybody. That was very much Jordan.”

Senior Matt Tengesdal was hanging out with Tucker and another friend the night before his death. They had dinner at a Cloquet restaurant and returned to Tucker’s home to start research for English papers — Tucker’s was about “global warming and its effects on fish in

Minnesota lakes,” Tengesdal said.

Tucker died of an apparent heart attack, said his mother, Barbara Krzenski.

“He had no symptoms until the night he passed on,” she said. In text messages to his friends, Tucker described how “his heart was racing,” Krzenski said. “He was in his own room, in his own bed.”

Krzenski described her son as “a lister” who recorded every fish he ever caught and who counted down the days to the Minnesota fishing opener.

He also maintained a 3.4 average as a senior and was the goalie for the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton varsity soccer team.

“Any team he played, he knew people,” Krzenski said. After the squad lost to Hermantown, she said, “every player on that team hugged Jordan.”

Until his senior year, Tucker was “the consummate back-up goalie,” Hexum said.

“There always seemed to be one person in front of him. He waited his turn patently, was a supportive team member. You never had any playing-time issues with him. He was a great teammate.”

And a great starting goalie, Hexum added.

“His last half of soccer was shut-out soccer,” he said. “As a goalie, that’s a big deal.”

Tucker was named all-conference goalie and played in the regional all-star game.

“Jordan accomplished so much in his life because he set goals for himself and he achieved those goals,” said his father, Jeff Tucker.

Almost all of the school’s students learned of Tucker’s death on Saturday or Sunday, Esko Superintendent Aaron Fischer said. Teachers were informed via telephone. The district activated its crisis team, establishing a grief center and staffing it Monday with school counselors and four clergy members.

When teachers arrived Monday, they were told what services were available for the students.

“We tried to give them some ideas on how to help the kids deal with this,” Fischer said. “It’s a traumatic event for everyone.”

Many students arrived at school Monday dressed up in honor of Tucker.

“Something special for him was to wear nice clothes and dress up,” Fischer said. “So they dressed up. Most of them wore black in tribute to him.”

And on Tuesday, most wore some form of blaze orange — many students had orange ribbons pinned to their jackets, shirts or even shoes — to recognize Tucker’s love of hunting, fishing and outdoor activities.

Today will be “jersey day,” Tengesdal said, in honor of Tucker’s dedication to sports.

His funeral service is planned for Thursday at 4 p.m. at Grace Baptist Church in Cloquet. A candlelight vigil is planned at 8 p.m. today at Nelson Funeral Care in Cloquet.

Senior Eliza Grames, 17, recalled her classmate as “always smiling.”

“No one could say that Tucker was ever mean to anyone,” she said.

Friend Rebecca Davidson, 20, and her boyfriend had spent many days ice fishing with Tucker. She described how he would run across the ice of Big Lake or Chub Lake “and slide and grab the tip-up as he went by,” she said.

Jeff Tucker described his son as being “at one with nature.”

“That’s where he found his peace.”

(c)2008 Duluth News-Tribune