William Andrew Tidwell

COLUMBIA – Funeral services for William A. Tidwell, 20, of Columbia, will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, September 29, 2018 at Park Street Baptist Church with interment in Elmwood Cemetery. The Rev. Charles Wilson will be officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the church.

Billy was born February 5, 1998 in West Columbia to William T. and Teresa Roy Tidwell and passed away Friday, September 21, 2018.

Billy was a student at Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was a viola student of Mr. Jeffrey Irvine’s. He was pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in viola performance and a minor in psychology from Case Western Reserve University. He was a member of the CIM orchestra and performed many times in Severance Hall, as well as Kulas Hall.

Billy was an Honor Graduate of Irmo High School, graduating in the top 5% of his class, in 2016, earning numerous academic and music awards.

Billy was a member of Boy Scout Troop 521 and earned the rank of Eagle Scout as well as the Order of the Arrow, the National Camping Award, and served as a Junior Assistant Scoutmaster. While serving as Senior Patrol Leader twice, he helped his troop members earn a record number of merit badges. Billy had completed over 500 volunteer hours by the time he earned the rank of Eagle.

Billy earned a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do at Victory Martial Arts; he was an assistant teacher to adults and children. He was named Student of the Year and won several trophies during competitions.

At Christmas time, Billy and his string quartet members (The Silver Tie Quartet, which was established in 2012) travelled to assisted living facilities throughout Lexington and Richland Counties, playing Christmas music for Hospice patients. His quartet also performed at the Koger Center, as well as for weddings and other events. He was a Special Olympics volunteer, as well as a hospice volunteer.

Billy performed with many orchestras beginning at a young age, including the SC Youth Philharmonic, Riverland Hills Baptist Church Orchestra, Tri-District Arts Consortium, Midlands Region Orchestra, SC All-State Orchestra, the National Association for Music Educators Orchestra in Nashville, TN, Lake Murray Symphony Orchestra, and SC Baptist All-State Orchestra. He also played with the Sterling Chamber Players and performed in small orchestras at numerous churches in the greater Columbia area. He most recently performed with the Aiken Symphony Orchestra and played for two concerts with the SC Philharmonic Orchestra while in high school. He was the winner of numerous concerto competitions at universities in SC as well as scholarships to orchestra camps, including Bowdoin College, Furman University, and Appalachian State University. He was a guest artist at Tri-District Arts Consortium in the summer of 2016 and was selected to perform in Honors recitals at Furman University and at Appalachian State University. He arranged two orchestral pieces while in middle school, which were performed by the Irmo Middle School Orchestra.

Billy also played the part of “Gingy” in Irmo High School’s 2015 production of “Shrek.” He was a soloist and member of the IHS Choraliers Chamber Choir his senior year.

His orchestra teachers in the Lexington-Richland School District 5 were Laura Buff, Carol Murray, Haley Calore, and Colleen Marcou. Billy studied viola with Dr. Constance Gee, Dr. Eric Koontz, and Mr. Jeffrey Irvine.

Surviving are his parents; brother, Benjamin T. Tidwell; maternal grandparents, John and Julia Roy of Charlotte and Margaret and Gary Davis of West Columbia; paternal grandmother, Annet Tidwell of Columbia; uncle, James Tidwell and numerous aunts and uncles.

Pallbearers are Louis Biles, Benjamin Reuter, Noah Overcash, Sam Kollmanberger, Donnie Reuter, and Douglas Foreman, all of whom are members or adult leaders from Boy Scout Troop 521. Honorary pallbearers are Matthew Henson, Gavin Clark, Jenny Watson, Lesleigh Bays, Chris Foreman, Matthew Barbian, Breanna Norton, Brandon Jordan, Tom Birdsong, Tanay Singh, and Richard Thomas.

In Billy’s memory, the Irmo High School Billy Tidwell Award for Musical Excellence will be given to a worthy musician each year. This award will include a scholarship for a worthy student. Donations may be made to “Irmo High School William (Billy) Tidwell Scholarship”, c/o Colleen Marcou, Irmo High School, 6671 St. Andrews Rd., Columbia, SC 29212.

Elmwood Funeral Home and Cremation is assisting the family with arrangements.