By Dr. Sandra Archer Young
Carolyn Clark Tucker, co-founder of national retail giant Shoe Show, Inc., is passionate about something often considered a rarity: teaching the Bible in public schools. In January of 2025, she presented CIU with a generous gift providing scholarships for students, particularly Bible Teaching majors. This gift was inspired by the life of Mary Elizabeth McMurray, a 1939 CIU graduate who taught elective Bible courses to high schoolers in Cabarrus County, North Carolina for 45 years.
While Carolyn was never taught by Elizabeth McMurray, also known as “Lib,” her investment is nonetheless quite personal: one of those high schoolers taught by McMurray was Carolyn’s husband, Robert Tucker, who came to Christ under McMurray’s ministry. That act of evangelism cemented a relationship between the Tuckers, McMurray, and ultimately Columbia International University (then Columbia Bible College).
Carolyn grew up in Kannapolis, North Carolina, a quaint, tree-lined Southern town in Cabarrus County, not far from Charlotte. Bob’s roots were in Albemarle, North Carolina until his mother remarried and moved to the Concord/Kannapolis area where they met. Yet long before the Tuckers founded a thriving business, they were students at A.L. Brown High School. Robert, two years ahead of Carolyn, one day found himself sitting in McMurray’s classroom. McMurray’s engagement with the Bible Club movement ultimately led him beyond the classroom. Robert Tucker’s life was changed when McMurray drove a carload of students to Cheraw, South Carolina to a Bible Club retreat.
Bible Club: A Graduation Requirement
In the mid-20th century, Bible Clubs and Bible teaching were staples at CIU.
According to Martha Fulton, a former Christian Service supervisor at CIU, all CIU students taught a Bible Club as part of their graduation requirements. While teaching children in a Bible Club was a “standard” teaching assignment at CIU during those days, Bible Teaching majors moved into more formal Bible Teaching assignments in their junior and senior years.
“It could be teaching Sunday school in a church, or it might be teaching in a weekly youth group program,” says Fulton. “They even taught at the Department of Juvenile Justice each Sunday.”
The Businessman and the Designer
After their marriage Robert and Carolyn attended a local Methodist church for several years. During this time, the Lord began to bless their business. The couple opened their first Shoe Show location on Main Street in downtown Kannapolis in 1960. Robert, a shrewd and progressive businessman, leaned heavily on Carolyn whose skills in design were later reflected in the opening of each new store. The original store evolved into a chain of retail stores under the names of Shoe Show, Shoe Dept., Shoe Show Mega, Shoe Dept. Encore, Shoebilee and Burlington Shoes. Some of the various names were derived from acquisitions of other companies. Today the company operates approximately 1,100 stores in 47 states.
Their Christian Walk
As the business flourished, so did the couple’s relationship with the Lord. Bob was a Christian since high school because of accepting Jesus at a Bible Club retreat. Carolyn accepted Jesus at North Kannapolis Baptist Church and they served there faithfully at this church with their four children; Jacqueline, Robert, Greg and Lisa.
Unlike her husband whose grandparents were Christians, exposure to the gospel wasn’t offered to Carolyn as a child. She did not grow up in a Christian home nor hear the message of Jesus Christ until fourth grade when a Bible teacher came once each week to her class. She does recall that when she was 10 years old, a local church approached her and invited her to participate as an angel in a Christmas play.
“It was probably because of my long hair,” she recalls. “I went to the rehearsal and they had hay and I had asthma. The hay set me off, and so I wasn’t able to be an angel.” Years later, she realized that the church was not simply attempting to find enough children to feature in a Christmas performance. Their goal was evangelism.
“That church never reached me,” says Carolyn, “but I still to this day appreciate their efforts.”
Investing in CIU
Today, due to McMurray’s devotion to teaching the Bible to young adults, Carolyn continues to regularly invest in CIU, which has produced Bible Teaching graduates on the college and graduate level for over 60 years. She and Robert, who recently passed away in 2023, also actively supported Bible Teaching associations in North Carolina. She commends the long, steady presence of Bible teachers in the town of Kannapolis.
“One of these teachers taught grammar grades right out of CIU and one taught high school and they stayed with us probably 45 years,” said Carolyn. “Can you imagine how many lives were changed? Bob’s life was changed because of Bible teaching in the schools.”
Why did she recently give so liberally to CIU? “I wanted the McMurray Scholarship to mean something,” says Carolyn of her gift. “I don’t think there are many places that prepare people for teaching Bible in the public schools anymore. I support all of the Bible teaching associations that I know of in my area. Where else are students going to hear it nowadays?” It is taught strictly as a course, but does not return void.
CIU’s Bible Teaching graduates are not only employed in local and national teaching positions but have also taught English in International schools in China and taught the Bible to schools in Indonesia.
CIU Bible Teaching Program Director Dr. Anita Cooper explains the unique value of the program.
“The core requires a lot of Bible courses that are foundational to the Bible teaching classes that I teach,” she says. “Students have knowledge of the Bible but what demonstrates that they know the Bible is that they can apply it not only to their lives, but also to the lives of other people.”
McMurray Legacy Established
Today Carolyn, now 84, continues to serve her church in leadership roles, and serves her community through her 10-acre Tucker Garden in Concord, North Carolina. The garden reflects a blend of Carolyn’s spirituality and her love for fantasy. It’s described as a peaceful place to relax for a few hours and enjoy God’s creation. 
Her gift to CIU firmly establishes the teaching legacy of Mary Elizabeth McMurray. It also ensures that future CIU students have the means to complete a Bible-rich academic program that provides solid biblical content to young educators whose ultimate goal is to spread the gospel.
In May, CIU honored the life of Elizabeth McMurray with a posthumous honorary doctorate. Carolyn was notified of the decision with a visit from CIU President Dr. Bill Jones and his wife Debby who presented Carolyn with a flower and a note that read:
Thank you, Tucker Family
For honoring the legacy of Dr. Elizabeth McMurray
Teacher, Evangelist, Woman of the Word
