Gladys Brubaker Tidwell

1926-2026

At age 100, Gladys Brubaker Tidwell (“Marme”) passed away peacefully on June 28, 2026, surrounded by her family. She had been anxious to rejoin her high school sweetheart and husband, James Elliott Tidwell (Jim) who passed away in 2018.

Gladys was born on January 6,1926 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Charles Grover Brubaker and Alice Margaret Fredericksen. She was raised primarily by her mother who had suffered a significant stroke at the time of Gladys’s birth. She grew up in the Liberty Park area and spent her childhood enjoying ice-skating and playing in the park. As a child she had very little to call her own but felt she had something very special. Her father worked for Union Pacific Railroad and occasionally took her to ride on the train, including a ride on the cow catcher at the front of the engine. Since then, she has always loved trains.

Gladys attended South High School where she met Jim. From their first dance she experienced a connection she had never known. What she felt never left her. Gladys and Jim were married in San Antonio, Texas in 1945, while Jim was completing flight school in the Army Air Corps. They were later sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple.

Together they traveled all over the world as Jim served in the newly formed U.S. Air Force. At the age of 23, she courageously took her two little girls, Bonnie Joyce and Patricia Ann, and crossed the Pacific Ocean in a troop ship to join Jim in Japan just before the Korean conflict broke out. She waited anxiously as he flew more than 100 missions during the conflict. They added two more precious children to their family, James Elliott II, and Penny Lee, as they moved to Florida, Georgia, California, Germany, France, South Carolina, Alabama, and Utah. No matter where they lived, Gladys always made their home special. She was an excellent seamstress, cook, and homemaker who also enjoyed shopping wherever she lived in the world.

After their retirement from the Air Force in 1967, Gladys and Jim settled in Salt Lake City. They served faithfully in many callings in the Monument Park 9th Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They also served together as full-time missionaries in the California Ventura Mission from 1988 to 1989.

As their children married and started having families, they began calling her “Marme”, after the devoted mother in the classic book, Little Women. At the time of her passing, Marme had 20 grandchildren, 59 great-grandchildren, and 21 great-great-grandchildren, plus their many wonderful spouses. Like Marme in the book, she has been the glue holding this large family together with backyard parties, Christmas gatherings, and countless wonderful memory- making activities. She remembered the names and circumstances of each member of her large family to the very end.

Marme is survived by her four children, Bonnie Bateman (Val-deceased), Patricia Garriott (Boyd), James Tidwell, II (Tomi), and Penny Lunt (Edward). She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, sister - Margaret James (Harry) and brothers: Joseph Brubaker (Helen) and Dr. Charles Brubaker.

Funeral services will be held Monday, July 6, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at Larkin Sunset Lawn, 2350 E. 1300 S., Salt Lake City, Utah. A viewing will be held from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. prior to the funeral. Interment will be at Larkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery.

The family wishes to express their deep appreciation to the staff and caregivers of Spring Gardens Holladay and Inspiration Home Health and Hospice for their kind and professional service.