Doyle Winfred Tidwell

Doyle went home to be with his Lord and Savior on October 1, 2019.  He was surrounded by his family in a hospital in Ft. Worth, Texas and his passing was peaceful.  Visitation will be held Sunday, October 6, 2019 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at White’s Funeral Home in Weatherford, Texas.  A graveside service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Monday, October 7, 2019 at East Greenwood Cemetery in Weatherford, Texas followed by lunch at the home of Ronnie and Tammy at 657 Harmony Road in Weatherford also. Doyle was born on April 15, 1939 in Turkey, Texas to Bly and Aldine Tidwell.  He was the middle son of three boys.  The family would eventually end up in Wichita Falls, Texas where in his later teen-age years Doyle developed a love for boxing and would eventually earn the title of the Golden Glove Champion for the Boys Club. Bly put the boys to work as soon as they were able for the family owned trucking business hauling sand and rock for the state where Doyle would continue to work and to learn the trade. In 1960 he met and married Margie Francis Baker.  During their two year marriage, he would father his only son, Ronald Floyd.   They would divorce not long after in 1962. In June of 1963, Doyle married Sue Ann Moffit Baker, who would remain his wife until her passing.  She brought to the family another son, Johnnie Baker. In 1969, Doyle made the decision to follow his passion for horse racing and he and Sue moved to La Mesa Park in New Mexico to begin what would be his lifelong career of training race horses. Doyle had stalls at racetracks all across the country from West Virginia to Maryland to Louisiana before returning to Texas in 1980.  Upon his return, Ronnie would join the team of Tidwell Racing as the exercise and race rider.  Also, by his side after the passing of Aldine, Bly and Johnnie would become a familiar asset to the shed row of Tidwell racing.   The family affair would continue to run and win at racetracks all across Texas until the late 1990’s when Trinity Meadows Racetrack would close and Doyle’s health would no longer sustain the 7 day a week, 365 day a year schedule.   He continued on to run a race horse or two and would go back to what he knew, working part time in trucking for his nephews, and excavation for his grand-son-in-law.  Finally in 2006, he would give in to full retirement.  He spent the rest of his life attending family gatherings and telling the SAME stories over and over and over.  If you were around him very often at all I guarantee you have heard the same one more than once.  He adored his great-grandkids, and laughed when he heard the stories of what they might have done that day.  In 2015 Doyle was diagnosed with a blood disorder.   He spent these last years battling sickness that went along with chemo, etc, as well as, 25 years of heart disease which would eventually take his life.    He was blessed that his granddaughter, Brittany was a registered nurse and was able and willing to love and care for him through his last years.  He loved to tell people she ran that hospital.   Doyle lived a long, full life and to quote his dear childhood friend, Phil, “you just had to take him for who he was”.   He was a loved Daddy, PaPa, Great Pa Pa, Uncle Doyle, brother and friend.   He will be missed but we are forever confident and grateful that we will see him again one day! He is preceded in death by his wife, Sue Ann Tidwell; his parents, Bly and Aldine Tidwell; and his brother, Thurston Tidwell. He leaves behind his son, Ronnie Tidwell and wife, Tammy; step-son, Johnnie Baker and wife, Mary; brother, Terry Tidwell; lifelong friend, Phil Propes and wife, Judy; grandkids, Justin and Brandy Maddox, Corey and Brittany Brysch; great-grandkids, Shelby and Shyann Maddox, and Carter and Cayden Brysch; and many nieces and nephews.