He helped direct a range of plays and musicals for the high school starting in 1963, but excluding 1970 to 1972 when he headed overseas to England, and 1978 and 1979 when he was directing for the Invercargill Musical Theatre.
After the high school’s most recent production, Mamma Mia, he made the final decision to retire.
"It is time to stop - age has beat me and holding rehearsals after school in the cold and dark has caught up with me," Mr Tucker said.
He would miss the interactions with the pupils the most, he said.
"I don’t think I can tell you how I will feel until this time next year when I should be going up to school for rehearsals.
"I don’t doubt that the pupils have had as much joy with the shows as I have had."
He had several engraved silver mugs on his shelf given to him by former Hargest cast members, as a "Hargest tradition" to thank him for his time and effort every year.
But the mugs only hinted at the collections of stories and memories he had accumulated over the years.
He remembered countless former pupils, including former All Black Paul Sapsford, radio announcer Dick Weir and opera singer Joy Kerr, who all starred in at least one play he directed.
Mr Tucker shifted to Invercargill from Dublin in 1962 and began work at the college in 1963.
He recalled asking the head of office if he could take over the school productions despite not having much experience in theatre.
"I went to the theatre in Dublin a great deal but I never became a thespian; neither did I become a director or actor until I came to New Zealand.
"I am the world’s worst actor but I enjoyed being on the stage and preferred to direct."
The first play he directed for the college was Noel Coward’s Hay Fever in 1963, which was "a success", he said.
Of the many plays he helped direct, one of his favourites was The Playboy of the Western World by Irish playwright J.M. Synge in 1967.
"Coming from Ireland the leads who played characters Pegeen Mike and Christy Mahon carried the play and their accents were terrific."
In the early years the school only did plays, which included Wanted - One Body and Arms and the Man.
However, the trajectory of the college productions changed in 1977 after there was a request for a musical, Mr Tucker said.
"One of the teachers requested we do The Sound of Music.
"It was musicals from then on, and as long as I had a choreographer and musical director I was happy doing them," Mr Tucker said.
Musicals were a better fit for the school as they could involve a cast of 50 compared with just 10 for plays, he said.
His favourite musicals were "undoubtedly" Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, My Fair Lady, Les Miserables and Oklahoma!.
The most successful musical for the college was Les Miserables, which drew a crowd of 2000 people. Second was Grease with more than 1200 and third was this year’s production, Mamma Mia.
He could remember every musical director and was always amazed by their musical ability.
"You can’t direct a musical without singers and someone who can train and teach the singers and there has never been a problem at James Hargest with that."
A highlight of his career was writing a play about the life of James Hargest for the school’s 50th anniversary in 2008.
"I remember thinking, ‘does anybody know anything about Jimmie Hargest?’ - and so I made a play about this man, who is one of Invercargill’s most famous soldiers; he was a member of Parliament and a commander with the militia in the 1920s and ’30s."
Reflecting on the past years with the high school, he acknowledged the help he had received from volunteers, supporters and backstage crew members.
"I survived those years with the help of geniuses. The repertory people and all volunteers — they are the ones who made the shows successful."
