Born on January 24, 1928, Cecilia Colleen Tucker arrived with her twin sister, Frances, to join her four brothers and sisters, George, Charles (Barney), Ethel and Annabelle to live with their parents, Etta and Charles, in South Chicago Heights, Illinois, on the far south side of Chicago. She walked to and from home to St. Anne’s Catholic School every day and learned that life was hard during the depression and World War II  but, being part of the Greatest Generation, she and her family knew what hard work was and sacrifice. Being they were closest in age, Cecilia (DeDe) and Frances were given the responsibilities of gathering the eggs from the hen house and walking their cow to a local farm where the bull would “freshen” the cow to keep the family’s supply of milk flowing. Cecilia was given the nickname DeDe because she would sing “DeDe, DeDe, DeDe” to herself as she would go along.

Cecilia married James Henry Bland whom she met while working at Victor Chemical Company. He went on to get his union license as a plumber and she became an Illinois Bell Telephone Company operator for the next thirty-four years. Their family grew to include Joan, Catherine, James Willis and Wiliam Henry. She helped to support her family not only financially but also by serving with the Cub Scout and Girl Scout Troops and Brownies, working as a room mother at Brookwood School and a school teacher at The Methodist Church.

Cecilia is preceded in death by her husband, James Henry Bland, and her daughter, Joan, and Joan’s son, Robert Cherry, Cecilia’s grandson, and William and Becky’s daughter, Angela, Cecilia’s granddaughter and also her second husband, James Holland, whom she married years after James Henry’s death. She is survived by Joan’s oldest son, Kenneth Cherry; Catherine and her husband, Charles Daniel Bushroe; James Willis Bland and his wife, Claudia, and their children, Jason and Ruth, and Jason’s children, Joshua, Whitney and Justyn, along with Ruth’s husband and children; William (Bill) Bland and his wife, Becky, and their, daughters, Christine and Kara, Christine’s husband, Jake, and children, Max and Gwen, and Kara’s, children, Weston and Evelyn.

Cecilia is well known for her red hair and Irish ancestry. Her son, James, affectionately called her

“Big Red”. Her homemade apple pie was her masterpiece of all the dishes she masterfully prepared. Her expertise in the kitchen was appreciated and applauded by all.

Cecilia passed away on November 15, 2025. Cecilia’s spirit and presence will be missed but long remembered. May God bless her.