Tennessee, U.S., Delayed Birth Records, 1869-1909
Kelton Gordon Tidwell
Former Oak Ridge resident
Kelton Gordon Tidwell of Fairhope, Ala., died at 5:35 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2000, at a hospital in Alabama.
Mr. Tidwell was a former resident of Oak Ridge and a former teacher at Webb School of Knoxville.
He had also taught in Texas and retired from Bayside Academy in Daphne, Ala. His family said that as a teacher he touched the minds, hearts and lives of many.
Mr. Tidwell is survived by his wife, Carolyn Tidwell; his sons, Joe and Jeffrey, both of Knoxville, Ben of Virginia Beach, Va., and Stephen of Spanish Fort, Ala.; his daughters, Kim, Kellie and Kathy, all of the Mobile, Ala., and Eastern Shore area; his brother, Gerald Tidwell of Tulsa, Okla.; and his sister, Pat, of San Marcos, Texas; and by 15 grandchildren.
Patty Tidwell of Knoxville is his former wife.
A memorial service will be held at 7 tonight, Feb. 18, in the chapel of Wolfe Funeral Home in Fairhope.
A separate family service will be held at Pine Mountain Settlement School in Kentucky.
The family requests any memorials be in the form of donations to the Baldwin County Special Friends.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 tonight at the funeral home.
James Horace Potter
Retired from Y-12
James Horace Potter, 79, of Oak Ridge died Monday, Feb. 19, 2001, at his home.
Born Nov. 12, 1921, he was the son of Walter Horace and Ivie Arms Potter.
Mr. Potter came to Oak Ridge from Clarksville in 1960. He began his employment in Oak Ridge with Union Carbide Nuclear Division and retired from Martin Marietta Energy Systems in 1987 as operations coordinator with the Utility Department at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant.
Prior to coming to Oak Ridge, he was a factory manager at Rudolph, Hach Tobacco Co. in Clarksville.
Mr. Potter was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of World War II, having served in the Pacific theater.
He was a member of Highland View Church of Christ. His family described him as a devoted husband and father.
Mr. Potter's hobbies included hunting and fishing. He was a member of the National Rifle Association.
He is survived by his wife, Ann Roberts Potter; his son, James R. Potter and his wife, Judy, of Clarksville; and his daughters, Ann Slater and her husband, Tom, of Raleigh, N.C., and Ivy Hines of Sarasota, Fla.
Mr. Potter is also survived by his grandsons, Andy and Will Slater; his granddaughters, Elizabeth Slater, Christy Potter and Kelly Potter; his step-granddaughters, Christian Meredith and Stacy Meredith; his sister-in-law, Martha Kahl and her husband, Keith, of Oak Ridge; and his aunt, Mary Lou Rader of Oak Ridge.
Another son, William Horace Potter, died April 9, 1978, and another son-in-law, Phil Hines, died Aug. 29, 1999.
The funeral will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, in the chapel of Weatherford Mortuary with Martin Pyle and David Wallace officiating.
A graveside service will be conducted at 1 p.m. CST Friday, Feb. 23, at the Pleasant View Baptist Church Cemetery in Clarksville.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the mortuary.
Ruth E. Soderberg
Mother of Barbara Landau
Ruth E. Besse Soderberg, 99, of Natick, Mass., and a former resident of Worcester and Cape Cod, Mass., died Sunday evening, Feb. 18, 2001, at the Brittany Health Care Center in Natick following a period of declining health.
Mrs. Soderberg was the mother of Barbara Landau of Oak Ridge. She was also the widow of Andrew E. Soderberg.
Born in Worcester, she was the daughter of George and Emma Scogberg Besse.
Before retiring, Mrs. Soderberg worked for many years as an office manager in the Worcester area. She later worked at the Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, in the Thrift Shop.
She was a former member of the Order of Eastern Star in Worcester, and a past president of the Women's Club of South Yarmouth, Mass.
In addition to her local daughter and son-in-law, Lawrence Landau, she is survived by another daughter, Constance Holt and her husband, Samuel Holt, of Natick; and by eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, in the chapel of Mitchell Funeral Home, 105 N. Main St., Natick, Mass. The Rev. Victoria Guest, pastor of the First Congregational Church of Natick, will officiate.
Burial will follow at the New Swedish Cemetery in Worcester.
The family requests that any memorials be in the form of donations to the Natick Visiting Nurse Association, 209 W. Central St., Suite 313, Natick, MA 01760; or to a charity of the donor's choice.
The family will receive friends from 9 to 10 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Herbert M. Beck
Kingston resident
Herbert Merrell Beck, 75, of Kingston, died Monday, Feb. 19, 2001, at his home.
Mr. Beck is survived by his wife, Jane Beck; his daughters, Susan Meriedth of Bryant, Ark., and Melinda Jahsman of Pocatello, Idaho; his son, Mike Beck, of Pelham, Ala.; and his sisters, Helen Crum of Indianapolis, Ind., and Effie Dolen of Mooresville, Ind.
He is also survived by seven grandchildren, Amy Gandy, Andy Beck, Melissa Ramer, Scott Meriedth, Jon Meriedth, Patrick Jahsman and Emily Jahsman; and four great-grandchildren.
The funeral will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, in the chapel of Kyker Funeral Home in Kingston.
A graveside service will be conducted in Indiana.
The family will receive friends from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Helen Ammons Wilson
Former Thursday School teacher
Helen Ammons Wilson, 80, of Oak Ridge, died Monday, Feb. 18, 2002, at her home of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Born April 3, 1921, in Knoxville, she was the daughter of Henry Washington Ammons and Donnie May Runyon Ammons.
Mrs. Wilson was a homemaker and a member of the Claxton Church of Christ. She had formerly attended the New York Avenue Church of Christ in Oak Ridge and had taught in the church's Thursday School for many years. Bowling, fishing and cooking were among her interests.
She was the widow of Ralph Lee Wilson Jr., who died Feb. 21, 2000.
Mrs. Wilson is survived by a son, Ralph L. Wilson III and his wife, Rosa, of Claxton; and a daughter, Mary Helen Wilson Wood and her husband, Jim, of Chattanooga.
She is also survived by six grandchildren, Matthew Wilson Wood and his wife, Christy, of Chattanooga, Ethan Scott Wood of Atlanta, Ga., Ralph Lee Wilson IV and his wife, Jeannette, of Dayton, Tenn., and Lydia Mae Wilson, Rosann Andrea Wilson and Sarina Gail Wilson, all of Claxton; and three great-grandsons, Jack Anderson Wood and Henry Hayes Wood, both of Chattanooga, and Luke Adam Wilson of Dayton.
In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by a brother, Ralph Henry Ammons, and by another grandson, Adam Andrew Wilson, who died in 1998.
The funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in the chapel of Weatherford Mortuary with Tim Forlines officiating.
Burial will follow at Oak Ridge Memorial Park.
The family requests that any memorials be in the form of gifts to the Knoxville Christian School, 11549 Snyder Road, Knoxville, TN 37932; the Boyd Buchanan School, 4626 Bonnie Way Drive, Chattanooga, TN 37411; or the Muscular Dystrophy Association, A.L.S. Research Division, 3300 E. Sunrise Drive, Tucson, AZ 85718-3208.
The family will receive friends from 5 to 9 tonight, Feb. 20, at the mortuary.
Ralph Lee Wilson Jr.
Retired Y-12 Plant employee
Ralph Lee Wilson Jr., 78, of Oak Ridge, died this morning, Feb. 21, 2000, at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge.
Mr. Wilson was retired from Union Carbide Nuclear Division as a wage and salary administrator at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant.
He was born in Columbia, Tenn., on June 7, 1921, the son of Jennie Mae Scott and Ralph Lee Wilson Sr.
He was a member of the Claxton Church of Christ and a former member and elder at New York Avenue Church of Christ, where for many years he initiated and supervised the Thursday School Program.
Mr. Wilson was also a member of the Anderson County Genealogical Society and the Sons of the American Revolution. His hobbies included fishing, cooking, hunting and woodworking.
He is survived by his wife, Helen Ammons Wilson; his son, Ralph L. Wilson III and his wife, Rosa, of Claxton; his daughter, Mary Helen Wilson Wood and her husband, Jim, of Chattanooga; his brother, James Doak Wilson of Columbia; six grandchildren, Matthew Wilson Wood, Ethan Scott Wood and Ralph Lee Wilson IV, all of Chattanooga, and Lydia Mae Wilson, Rosann Andrea Wilson and Sarina Gail Callis, all of Claxton; and by one great-grandson, Jack Anderson Wood of Chattanooga.
Another grandson, Adam Andrew Wilson, died in December 1978.
The funeral will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, in the chapel of Weatherford Mortuary with minister Tim Forlines officiating.
A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, at Oak Ridge Memorial Park.
The family requests that any memorials be in the form of donations to the Knoxville Christian School, 11549 Snyder Road, Knoxville, TN; the Boyd Buchanan School, 4626 Bonnieway Drive, Chattanooga, TN; or to the National Parkinson Foundation, 360 W. Superior St., Chicago, IL 60610.
The family will receive friends from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the mortuary.
