Tyler Shane Tidwell

There are no ways to perfectly incapsulate all that makes up Tyler Tidwell in words. He was a proud son of Bobby and Linda Tidwell, a devoted brother to Justin, a loving husband to Cassi, and a wise and caring father to Alex, Bobby, and Christian. Tyler was a Marine, a college football player, a master chess player, a phenomenal writer, a brother, and a friend. Tyler was one who willingly sacrificed the pursuit of the desires of the self in favor of living for the transcendent. Tyler was the son of police officers and comes from a line of those who served in WWII. He backed up his talent with hard work and became a legendary linebacker at the Naval Academy, so much so that he turned down offers from the NFL to ensure he could maintain his commitment to his country to serve as a Marine. Tyler's football career was recognized to the point that he was selected for the 50-Year All Navy Football Team. He served three deployments with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, served as a Platoon Commander, a Company Commander, a Guard Operations Officer at the Marine Barracks in Washington D.C., and many other assignments. Tyler consistently served his country in some of the most advanced and respected assignments in the Marines. Tyler always pursued wisdom and desired to better understand the age-old question, "How should we live?". He believed the greats would discuss ideas, and the understanding he developed through his own personal studies led him to an ancient truth, a belief that there is a fixed orientation, an infinite reference point on which all humanity depends, without which life will never fully make sense: "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end." – Hebrews 1:10-12As a friend recently wrote about Tyler, "He was a warrior philosopher, someone as well acquainted with war as he was existentialism, someone who glorified God with his body and his mind. He was born of the classical ideal, a leader of men who was at home among soldiers and scholars….a Christian in the mold of C.S. Lewis and G.K Chesterton, and others who knew that they had nothing to fear from the marketplace of ideas."As Tyler, Cassi, and their family battled ALS together, Tyler didn't waste time with asking the question "Why is this happening to me?". Instead, he spent his time doing all he could to impact his family, his friends, his brothers in the Marines, and the world around him. He did this through his ability to love, persevere, and share the ideas and wisdom that came from the unique perspective of a man who had experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows but never would be shaken. Even when Tyler's body became completely paralyzed, he would painstakingly share his thoughts, feelings, and desires, one letter at a time, using his eyes to type on a tablet to write and speak his words. Tyler fought as you would expect a Marine to fight, he thought and shared deeply the ideas reserved for the wisest of philosophers, and he loved sacrificially, as the greatest of husbands and fathers. Tyler learned the answers to the questions of old. He knew how one should live and he showed us all the way. He will be missed, and his memory will forever be cherished.