Margie T. Braden

Margie T. Braden of Emporia died on Wednesday, October 21, 2020 at Emporia Place, Emporia, Kansas.  She was 87.

Margie was born on April 7, 1933 in Goodman, Missouri the daughter of George and Crissie Mayfield Clark.  She grew up on a farm near Kiowa, Kansas where she attended school, graduation in 1951 as a class valedictorian.  After taking a class on teletype and Morse Code, Margie worked for a time as a teletype operator for Pan American Airlines in New York City.  Returning to Kansas she married Bill Tidwell and moved with him to Ft. Ord, California where he was stationed with the US Army during the Korean War.  During that time, Margie worked as a secretary for an Army Reserve Unit on the Monterey Peninsula.

Returning to Kansas where her husband received his undergraduate and Master’s degrees at then KSTC, Emporia and their first child was born.  Next move was to New York City for his doctorate at Columbia University and Margie did dissertation and manuscript typing for students.  Moving next to Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio where her husband taught, Margie again did manuscript typing for faculty at the college and gave birth to two other sons.  During this time, she was active in the League of Women Voters, serving as local president and representing them at the national convention in Washington, D.C.

In 1970 they again returned to Emporia where Margie was elected to the local school board, serving two years as board president.  In 1975, following a divorce Margie worked for law firms in Emporia and Topeka where she also attended Washburn University receiving her degree as a Legal Assistant and was a charter member and early president of the Kansas Legal Assistants Society, later the Kansas Paralegal Association.

Next career change was to job for a lobbying firm in Topeka and later executive director and lobbyist for a trade association.

On September 17, 1983, Margie and Jim Braden were married.  They made their home in Clay Center, Kansas where Jim had his long-established business in life and health insurance and investments.  Margie left her work in Topeka, became a licensed insurance agent and a partner in Braden Financial Services.  That continued until they retired and sold the business in 2013 to their longtime associates.

Following Jim’s death, Margie returned to Emporia to be near her sons, Rick, Lon and Dale Tidwell.

In their blended marriage Jim and Margie are the parents of 6 sons and 1 daughter, 10 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.

Cremation is planned with a service at a later date.  Memorial contributions to the Emporia Friends of the Zoo or  the Clay Center Zoo can be sent in care of Roberts-Blue-Barnett Funeral Home, PO Box #175, Emporia, Kansas.