Community Raises $24K for Wife of Man Who Died Cycling in Abbeville

A GoFundMe set up for the late Robert Gordon “Robby” Tucker’s wife has earned more than $24,000 since he died July 6.

Tucker, 35, died last week at Regional One Hospital in Memphis from injuries he sustained that weekend when he was thrown from his bicycle after dogs ran out in front of him.

A true outdoorsman, Tucker graduated cum laude from the University of Mississippi with double bachelor’s degrees in accountancy and business administration and management. It is there that he met his wife, Ashton Agent. The two were big fans of all Ole Miss sports and enjoyed watching all the Rebel teams play.

According to his obituary, he was athletic and played soccer during high school and in junior college. His competitive spirit led him to participate as a triathlete in Iron Man competitions, and he was dedicated to his training.

He worked as the North Mississippi District Manager for Republic National Distributing Company.

“He was beloved by his customers. … Throughout the years, relationships that began in business turned into lifetime friendships,” his obituary states.

Tucker was laid to rest on July 10 in the Oxford Memorial Cemetery. Waller Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.

Lafayette County Sheriff Joey East said deputies were dispatched to where Tucker fell from his bicycle and that “more than one dog” was involved and that none of the dogs were on leashes.

There is no leash law in Lafayette County.

Andy Hemmins, an avid cyclist who has traveled many roads in Lafayette County on his bicycle, said stray and unleashed dogs in the county have been an issue for cyclists for many years.

“It’s happened to me several hundred times, being chased by a dog,” Hemmins said Thursday. “Most of the time they’ll chase you because they see you as a threat to their territory and sometimes will stop once you leave that area. But you don’t really know what they’re going to do. It’s very unpredictable and a bit of a menace.”

Hemmins has been bitten by a dog, crashed his bicycle when a dog dashed in front of him and watched a dog get hit and killed by a car.

He said he isn’t sure if a leash law would help since he doubts it could be enforced on most of the county’s back roads. Hemmins also said there is a distinct difference in the number of dogs he encounters when he is on county roads versus inside the city limits of Oxford, where there is a leash law for dogs.