Fred Thomas Tidwell “Tommy” passed away peacefully at his home on February 11, 2026. He was 71 years old. A funeral service will be held at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at the Taylor Funeral Home. Interment will follow in the Tidwell Cemetery on Pine Hill Road, Burns, TN. The visitation will be held on Wednesday from 10:00 AM until the time of service.
Tommy was born on January 29, 1955 in Nashville, TN. He was the son of the late Fred Tidwell and Paula Myers.
In addition to his parents, Tommy was preceded in death by his grandparents, James “Popeye” and Pauline “Momma” Austin; father-in-law, Allen Oliphant; and a brother, Steve Myers.
Mr. Tidwell is survived by the love of his life and wife of 41 years, Debbie Tidwell; his 3 children, Beth Tidwell, Anthony Fisher (Shinobu), Kevin Fisher (Vanessa); 5 grandchildren, Kumi (Michael), Janie, Kai, Addison, Libby; and a great granddaughter, Sydney.
Tommy had a construction business and built his home and several others. He worked as an electrical engineer for France (Fairview, TN) until his retirement. He was a mechanical genius that could repair anything.
Tommy was just a few flights away from getting his pilot license when he lost his eye in a bushhogging accident. He built several cars – Chevelle, 1953 Chevy Coup that Keifer helped build. He also built a trike for himself that was named “The Mother Buzzard.” It had a Volkswagen rear end; the front end was Yamaha and there was a special built engine that he ordered to assemble the trike –“ Mother Buzzard!” He also built a trike for his friend, Lewis.
He was a great teacher of life skills and work ethic, and many can attest to this. Tommy taught boys to be men.
Memories from loved ones:
Kumi’s favorite memory was spending time with Papa in his shop and watching Andy Griffith.
Beth’s favorite memory was Tommy taking her fishing and she caught a good size fish and got a terrible sunburn on her nose. And he said that is the price for being a good fisherman.
Anthony’s memory is being sent to the garden to pick up rocks. When he and Kevin misbehaved, they were told to get a 5-gallon bucket and go to the garden and pick up rocks. They filled the bucket, dumped them in the woods and said they were done. Tommy would take the tractor and plow up the field and send them back for more rocks.
Keifer would walk in the door on the weekends and tell him to get himself out of the bed, “you are sleeping your life away.” He would get up and go sit on the porch, but only for Keifer!
When Keifer was 5 years old, he learned his 1st lesson about working on cars. Tommy was working on his brakes, and he told Keifer to get in the car and to pump the brakes until he said stop. Keifer grabbed the wheel, slid down under the steering wheel and pumped the brakes. This was his training ground for life lessons.
Tommy was a “whoo whooo” coffee man. When you heard “whoo whooo,” you knew the coffee better be in your hand and on its way to him.
Debbie has stood by her man and loved him well! He will surely be missed.