Franklin "Frank" Duncan Tidwell

Funeral Services were held for Franklin “Frank” Duncan Tidwell, formerly of Douglasville, age 85, at Jones-Wynn Funeral Home, Douglas Chapel with Matthew Holloway officiating. His wife, Elizabeth McCann Tidwell passed away May 10, 2008. They had been married almost 59 years. Mr. Tidwell was born in Laurens County, Georgia, on September 25, 1924, later moving to Douglasville, where he was graduated from Douglas County High School. The late Frank Thomas, head Football Coach at the University of Alabama, tried unsuccessfully to recruit Frank to play football for them, but he elected to attend Emory at Oxford and Georgia Tech. He began working with Tidwell Construction Company in 1939, and was part owner of the firm until he retired in 1982. While serving as President of Tidwell Construction Company, he traveled all of Georgia looking for new bridge and culvert sites to bid on at a later date and supervising those projects already under construction. He was well known by those involved in the heavy highway construction industry in Georgia. After he retired he was a consultant to the Georgia Railroad evaluating the safety and probable life span of its bridges. Mr. Tidwell lived to see bridges that he built replaced by others sixty years later. He served as President of the Associated General Contractors of Georgia from 1969-1970. With the beginning of America’s involvement in World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving under General George Patton in the 95th Infantry division, who were known as the “Iron Men of Metz,” having liberated Metz, France, from German occupation. Photography was a life long hobby and source of pleasure. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Douglasville Methodist Church. He is survived by family and friends. Those desiring to remember Frank may do so by donating to a favorite charity or church. Jones-Wynn Funeral Home of Douglasville was in charge of arrangements. www.jones-wynn.com or 770-942-2311