Funeral service for Ava Ruth Tidwell, age 92, of Frederick, Oklahoma, will be at 3:00 P.M., Saturday, March 23, 2024, at the Jackson Funeral Home Chapel, 921 West Gladstone Avenue, Frederick, with Ken Waugh officiating.  Burial will follow in the Frederick Memorial Cemetery, under the direction of Jackson Funeral Home.  Mrs. Tidwell passed away Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at Magnolia Creek Skilled Nursing and Therapy, in Altus.

Ava Ruth (Smith) Tidwell was born June 3, 1931, in Loveland, Oklahoma, to Ellis Rowan and Clara Fay (Eastus) Smith.  She attended Loveland Public Schools, graduating from Loveland High School in 1949.  She was Valedictorian of her eighth grade and twelfth grade class. On April 22, 1950, she and Billie Dee Tidwell were united in marriage in Vernon, Texas.  Ava Ruth previously had worked for J.C. Penny Company and Skinner Motor Company.  In 1959, she began working for the Tillman County Treasurer's Office and later became the Tillman County Treasurer in 1971.  She retired in 1990, after thirty-one years of service. She enjoyed bowling, going to Port Aransas, Texas, where she and Bill would go every winter.  After his death on October 1, 2006, she continued to go down each year as long as her health would permit.  She was a member of the 13th and Josephine Church of Christ in Frederick.

She is survived by two daughters, Karen Alexander and her husband John of Gallup, New Mexico, and Lana Scott and her husband David of Altus, Oklahoma; five grandchildren, Kris Scott, Kaci Clark and her husband Cody, Jake Alexander and his wife Ivette, Jordan Alexander, and Jared Alexander; four great-grandchildren, Kendle Clark, Colter Clark, Jaxon Alexander, and Camden Alexander.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Billie Dee Tidwell; one brother, Raymond Smith; and two sisters, Evelyn Northcutt Kerr, and Linda Mattox.

Memorial contributions may be made to, Manuelito Navajo Children's Home, P.O. Box 58, Gallup, New Mexico, 87305, in memory of Ava Ruth Tidwell.