John Thomas Tidwell Jr
May 6, 1941 - March 1, 2019
Obituary
John Thomas Tidwell Jr. (JT), died peacefully surrounded by family with an abundance of love on March 1st, 2019 at Valley Medical Hospital after a lengthy illness. John was born May 6th, 1941 in Monroe, Louisiana to the union of John Thomas Tidwell Sr. and Dello Brown. The Tidwell family relocated to Bremerton, WA where they stayed for a brief time before moving to Seattle, WA, in 1953. John attended Meany Middle School and Garfield Highschool, where he graduated in 1960.
In October of 1960, John joined the United States Marine Corps Reserves and was honorably discharged at a rank of Lance Corporal on June 22nd, 1966. He was a proud Marine…Semper Fi
John married his childhood sweetheart Wilma Lee Vaughn on March 10th, 1963, whom he first met in 1954.To this union, they were blessed with two children, Theresa Marie (Dimples) and John Thomas Tidwell III (Johnny).
John began his 50+ year career with the United States Postal Service as a mail handler in 1960 where he retired in May of 2011. He made a host of friends and was known to give his co-workers nicknames. He was also known for wearing white pants to work and never getting them dirty. John had a passion for the finer things in life, especially his cars (Buick, Impala, Mustang, Cadillacs and his Chrysler 300 “The Beast”. You never saw JT in a dirty car. He was always washing the family cars and inspired others to maintain their vehicles. His 2nd passion was working in his yard. He had quite the green thumb. He would spend hours planting and mowing and his gardening skills were admired by all his neighbors.
His greatest joy was his family especially spending time with his grands and great grandchild. Their favorite past times were playing spades and dominos and his favorite line was “who dealt this”.
He also enjoyed with his wife, traveling to Vegas, going to the casinos, playing Spanish 21, and cheering on their favorite sports teams on ESPN. John had a wonderful personality and loved to talk and tell stories. Most of his neighbors knew of him and enjoyed conversing with him when he was outside working in his yard.
John leaves to treasure his memories his loving wife of 56 years, Wilma Lee, daughter Theresa, son John III (Melissa), three grandchildren, Derrik, Serii and Rosalinda, one great-grandchild Esperanza and a host of nieces and nephews, the Vaughn family and friends.
He was preceded in death by his father, John Thomas Tidwell Sr, mother Dello Tidwell, brothers Charles Wilson and Herbert Tidwell.
Thank you, Uncle John, for taking me to see Lee Alcindor’s Milwaukee Bucks v. Seattle’s Supersonics in 1972. That began my love affair w/ basketball that continues to this day. God bless you, from Berneice Vaughn’s son.
Forever in my memory is your smile and wonderful personality. My deepest condolences to the Tidwell family.
John was a fine man who will be greatly missed
John was the most generous man that I ever met in my life. Happy hey, easy going and simply glad to be alive. I was so sad to hear of his passing. The world is poorer for his absence.
John and I worked together in the Seattle Post Office. His infectious smile and pleasant personality made him invaluable. John was a good, honest, and decent man. My condolences to his family. RIP John
Condolences to the Tidwell Family!