Michael Allen Tidwell
January 14, 1953 - April 9, 2025
Michael Allen Tidwell passed suddenly from a pulmonary embolism on April 9, 2025 at 11am Colorado time. He was 72 years old and is survived by his father Melvin (95 years old); his wife Liana; three children Tawni, Christopher, Lauren and four step children Gustavo, Kristina, Elizabeth, Andrew and all their spouses; ten grandchildren (Hunter, Charlotte, Alexandra, Sean, Elise, Max, Zoey, Olivia, Emilia, and Colt Jr.); brother Mark, sister Karen, sister-in-law Jody, past spouses Teri and Lorraine; and a large community of family and friends who loved him very much.
Born January 14, 1953 in Rawlins, Wyoming to Sue and Mel Tidwell, Mike grew up for the first years of his life in Baroil, Wyoming. He and his brother Mark enjoyed hunting and fishing with their dad and neighbors, while sister Karen enjoyed riding her horse Poco. They appreciated rural Wyoming small town life and the remarkable immersion in the natural world.
In 7th grade, they moved to Circle, Montana where they joined “city life” in a small town of a few hundred families. The weather was harsh like Wyoming, and the people were as friendly and welcoming as Baroil. Mike played football and basketball and ran track. He played the French horn in band and excelled in academics, enjoying the sciences, particularly chemistry. In the summers, he worked for local farmers and learned his way around farm equipment and general farm life. He enjoyed learning wilderness skills and camping expeditions around the region as a Boy Scout.
He entered college at Montana State University on an ROTC scholarship and majored in Chemistry. After two years, he married his high school sweetheart Teri, and they transferred to University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After graduating with a Chemistry degree, Mike was accepted to the University of Nebraska Medical School in Omaha and received a scholarship for his medical education through the US Forces.
Following medical school graduation, he completed an internship and a residency in Orthopedic Surgery at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado. Their daughter Tawni was born while Mike and Teri were at Fitzsimons. As part of his residency, they moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he did a 6-month rotation of pediatric orthopedics at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital.
After residency, he fulfilled three years of his military service obligation in active duty as an orthopedic surgeon with the US Forces at the 121 Evacuation Hospital, Seoul, South Korea. Teri and Tawni joined him for that three-year tour of duty.
In 1986, Mike returned to the US for a one-year fellowship in Pediatric Orthopedics and Spinal Deformity at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital and then at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Fort Gordon, Georgia. He left the army just before the Gulf War. He received an Army Commendation Medal in 1985 and two Meritorious Service Medals in 1986 and 1990, and was honorably discharged as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1990.
He met Lorraine, a neuro technologist at Miami Children’s Hospital, and they married in 1988. Mike and Lorraine had their son Chris in Augusta, Georgia, while Mike was stationed at Eisenhower Army Medical Center, and then relocated to Plantation, Florida, where they had their daughter Lauren. He enjoyed fishing on the dock and exploring the Everglades with the kids.
Michael returned to Miami Children’s (now Nicklaus Children’s) in 1994, where he eventually served as Chief of Orthopedics until his retirement in 2019.
Mike met his current wife Liana, a nurse in his operating room and they were happily married for 23 years. Liana had four children from a previous marriage, so Mike gained four more children–Gustavo, Kristina, Elizabeth and Andrew. They enjoyed kayaking with the manatees in the mangroves, hiking around South Florida and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia and North Carolina. They traveled both domestically and internationally. Mike and Liana even visited Tawni in Tibet where she was in her residency for her Tibetan medical degree and completing a rotation in gastroenterology. He gave a lecture on pediatric bone cancer to the entire Tibetan medical hospital of over 200 physicians, residents and staff that was translated into Tibetan by one of Tawni’s medical professors.
Mike practiced across the full spectrum of Pediatric Orthopaedics with an emphasis on special needs children, which brought him much joy. His areas of specialization included cerebral palsy, spina bifida and other neurological based disorders, hemophilia (he was the only orthopaedic surgeon in South Florida actively treating hemophiliacs), orthopaedic oncology, bladder exstrophy / cloacal exstrophy, bone dysplasia, spine surgery (fellowship trained), and orthopaedic rehabilitation medicine. He was passionate about supporting his patients in rehabilitation with specialized shoes, insoles and braces that he helped design.
He developed a special bladder exstrophy surgical technique that continues to be used by his orthopedic associates at Nicklaus Children’s.
Even in retirement, Dr. Tidwell continued to serve the medical profession. He acted as Chair of the Credentialing Committee, overseeing physician credentialing for Nicklaus Children’s with the same integrity he brought to his patients and operating room teams.
Alongside his surgical career, he had a deep love of teaching and mentoring. He was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation with a joint appointment in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Miami School of Medicine. He also was Voluntary Clinical Faculty at the Department of Podiatric Medicine, Barry University in Miami. He gave lectures regularly on pediatric orthopedics and his various specialties. He mentored residents at Baptist and Miami Children’s Hospitals, and particularly enjoyed teaching in the operating room.
He also loved to write, both academically and creatively. He had numerous publications in pediatric orthopedic and surgical journals covering brachial plexus palsy, shoulder subluxation/dislocation, surgical treatment of deformities, tip-toe gait among children, access to care for children with fractures, and improving shoulder and elbow function for children with Erb’s Palsy.
He was a deeply humble, compassionate, and gifted doctor who was very beloved by his many patients and colleagues and to whom he was endlessly dedicated.
Outside of medicine, Michael found peace and joy in nature, especially the mountains, where he often spent time. He had special talents in carpentry and innovative woodworking projects. He enjoyed traveling, living in the mountains of Georgia and frequent time back in South Florida with his wife Liana.
He lived with immense kind heartedness and a great sense of humor, bringing smiles and laughter to all around him. His heart was clearly filled by benefiting others and connecting to the natural world.
Mike’s Celebration of Life
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
9 AM
Be a Tree Cremation
3720 Pierce St, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033