Gladys Bidwell

Gladys E. Bidwell

Gladys E. Bidwell, 96, Topeka, died Sunday, Feb. 1, 2004, at Rolling Hills Health Center in Topeka. She was born June 9, 1907, in Starkville, Colo., the daughter of Rees H. and Mary Britton Davies. She had lived in Kansas City, Cass Lake, Minn., and Topeka. She worked for Emery Bird Thayer in Kansas City. Mrs. Bidwell was a housewife and a mother. Gladys and her husband owned and operated Fishy Water Resort in Cass Lake, Minn., from 1966 to 1971. She married Claude C. Bidwell on March 2, 1929, in Independence, Mo. She was preceded in death by her husband, Claude C. Bidwell, on Sept. 3, 1971; and a daughter, Betty D. Laird, on May 28, 1998. Survivors include three granddaughters, Vickie Bailey, Omaha, Neb., Linda Schreiner and Shelly Dodson, both of Topeka; and seven great-grandchildren. Graveside services and burial will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Kansas City, Kan. Mrs. Bidwell will lie in state after 3 p.m. Tuesday at Penwell-Gabel Parker-P rice Chapel, where the family will receive friends from 7 to 8 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, 1315 S.W. Arrowhead Road, Topeka, 66604.