Jerry L. Bidwell died Thursday. Jan. 14, 2021 in his home near Shelby, Ohio of congestive heart failure.
Born May 16, 1935 in Union County, Professor Bidwell was educated at the Ohio State University, Columbus, and at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. He taught French on the OSU campus from 1959-60 and French and Comparative Literature from 1961-1966.
He was one of the founding faculty at OSU-Mansfield Campus, teaching there from its opening in 1966-1986. He took early retirement in order to write, and thereafter wrote and published fiction.
He was preceded in death by his father, Kenneth R. Bidwell, his mother, Ethel M. Bidwell, his step-mother Geneva Bidwell, his aunts and uncles Harold (Kathryn) Bidwell, Jane (Eldon) Anderson, Elsie (Roger) Wilcox, and Juanita (Arthur) Schaeffer, his step-grandmother Zelda Bidwell, and a special childhood cousin Martha Sciacca.
He is survived by his dear friend and companion of 48 years Dr. Patricia L. Edwards, his sister, Janice (Thomas) Hurd, nieces Molly Barker and Lori (Todd) Disbennett, grandnephews Michael Barker, Matthew (Amber) Barker, and Dr. William (Ashley) Burns, Lisa Ann Burns, cousins, Rosemary Anderson, Rodney (Lois) Anderson, Meg (Johnnie) Wood, Celia Diamond, Robert (Brenda) Bidwell, Linda (Robert) Chambers, and by his special cousin Maria Sciacca.
Professor Bidwell was a member of the Unitarian-Universalist Church-of-the-Larger-Fellowship and of Amnesty International. An admirer of the outdoors, he enjoyed backpacking, fishing, and canoeing, and supported many environmental causes. His lifelong he loved the earth.
There will be no services or calling hours because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ashes will be placed privately according to Professor Bidwell’s instructions. Cremation service is being provided by Penwell Turner Funeral Home, 168 West Main Street, Shelby, Ohio.