LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jody Hamilton, whose remarkable 41-year high school baseball coaching career includes 1,038 victories, two state championships and National Coach of the Year recognition, is part of the Dawahares’ Kentucky High Schol Athletic Association 2026 Hall of Fame class.
Hamilton, a 1976 graduate of Ashland, won state championships at Boyd County in 2001 and West Jessamine in 2015. He also captured the All-A State title in 2024 at Owensboro Catholic and was the All-A runnerup at that school in 2025.
Hamilton was at Boyd County and West Jessamine for 16 years apiece and at Raceland for four years. This spring will be his fifth season at Owensboro Catholic,
He became only the fifth coach in Kentucky history to reach 1,000 victories, crossing that milestone in 2024. He is the only coach with state championships at two different schools.
The top four coaches on the Kentucky win list accomplished their 1,000-plus victories while coaching at the same school. All-time wins leader Mac Whitaker is still coaching at Harrison County and Bill Krumplebeck of Covington Catholic retired after last season.
Jody Hamilton with wife Denise after Owensboro Catholic captured the All-A state title in 2024.
Taking his place in the KHSAA Hall of Fame is an honor that is well deserved for one of the best high school baseball coaches in Kentucky history. He has helped countless players – his own and rivals alike – to college scholarships and was largely responsible for elevating baseball programs through the 16th Region during a dominating run there from 1987 to 2002.
Programs were forced to improve facilities and skills to try and keep pace with the Lions who were also state runnerups twice under Hamilton.
Hamilton, who is still the head coach at Owensboro Catholic, was the 2016 National High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year. He was a charter member in the Kentucky High School Coaches Hall of Fame, the 2016 NHSCA Coach of the Year and the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2015.
He was also a charter member of the Ashland Baseball CP-1 Hall of Fame in 2015 and is a member of the Morehead State Athletic Hall of Fame after an illustrious playing career that included being named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year after winning the league Triple Crown in 1977. His 49 career home run record stood until being eclipsed in 2024.
Jody played one year professionally for the Paintsville Yankees, including debuting the same night that Darryl Strawberry did for the Kingsport Mets.
Despite a successful first season in pro ball where he hit better than .300 with the prospects of moving up in the Yankee organization, he decided to embark on a coaching career that has been full of highlights. His career began as the head coach at Raceland High School in 1983. He later moved to Boyd County, then West Jessamine and is currently at Owensboro Catholic.
Jody Hamilton led West Jessamine to the 2015 state championship.
Hamilton coached golf from 2007-2010 where his teams were four-year regional champions and finished third at state in 2010 and seventh in 2009 at West Jessamine. He served as an assistant football coach at Raceland and West Jessamine in a career defined by success.
He endured only one losing season in his career, going 15-17 in his last year at Raceland in 1986 when every game was played on the road. Raceland won the district crown in ’86, anyway, and was the home team on the scoreboard for the first time — in 28 total games — in the opening round of the 16th Region Tournament.
Hamilton moved to Boyd County and captured his first of 11 region championship trophies with the Lions in 1988, taking them to the state championship game. Casey Hamilton, Jody’s son, helped bring Boyd County to a state title in 2001. He started at West Jessamine in 2004 and the Colts collected four region crowns (2008, ’10, ’15, ’16) under his leadership. He has two regional titles at Owensboro Catholic.
Winning the state championship and getting attention from college recruiters for his players was always the goal for Hamilton, who estimated 70 percent of the seniors who played for him found themselves on college rosters.
The secret sauce for Hamilton’s teams have been pitching and defense. All but “one or maybe two” of his starting catchers throughout his 41 seasons have gone on to play college baseball. Two of his pitchers at Boyd County, Jason Keyser and Casey Davis, were drafted in the eighth and ninth rounds, respectively. He has helped more than 125 players find a place to play in college.
Hamilton operated a baseball school while coaching at Boyd County and one of the pupils was Brandon Webb, a future Cy Young Award winner for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Webb was 10 when his father, Phil, took him to Hamilton. He worked with him for five years before telling him he had to stop because Webb would soon be pitching for Ashland, Boyd County’s biggest rival.
“I said, ‘Brandon, here’s what’s going to happen. I have to stop giving you lessons because, if I keep giving you lessons, you’re going to beat me. People aren’t going to like that. If I don’t keep giving you lessons, I’m going to recruit you, and then I’m going to get fired.’”
In an unusual twist, Webb never faced Boyd County as a Tomcat. Coaches held their top pitchers during the regular season for a potential district matchup. Ashland and Boyd County never drew in the first round through his junior year. Webb’s senior season was cut short by an injury.
“How many coaches can say they gave lessons to a Cy Young winner?” Hamilton asked.
Jody and wife, Denise, have two grown children and several grandchildren and live on a farm in the Owensboro area.
Curtis Crye, the 16th Region statistical guru, reminds us that February 17 is a night in area basketball history where points come out in bunches.
One game particularly stands out though and here is a column written a few years ago about that individual scoring battle that will likely never be matched.
Grayson and Fairview met late in the season with little on the line. Neither team was above .500, and neither was expected to make postseason noise.
But for one February night in 1967, none of that mattered.
Grayson’s Charles Baker and Fairview’s Jim Day staged one of the greatest scoring duels in 16th Region history. Baker poured in 55 points. Day answered with 51. Fairview won, 118-97.
The outburst capped a strange week for Baker, who had scored just eight total points in his previous two games, dropping his average below 20 for the first time all season. Against Coach George Cooke — the original “Wizard from Westwood” — in Fairview’s old gym, Baker couldn’t miss.
The tiny gym was packed, helped by the presence of University of Kentucky assistants Harry Lancaster and Joe B. Hall, there to watch Day play for Adolph Rupp.
“They weren’t coming to see me,” Baker said. “But there was a buzz in the crowd.”
There was plenty to buzz about. Baker and Day matched each other shot for shot in a relentless, up-and-down showcase. In the end, Fairview pulled away with 64 second-half points.
Steve Whitt added 23 and Roger Lemaster 14 for the Eagles. Everett Pennington scored 21 for Grayson, giving Baker the support he needed.
“Looking back, I couldn’t ask for a better bunch of guys,” Baker said of his teammates. “They’d say, ‘We need you to win.’ We still have a good relationship today.”
Grayson coach Dick Vincent understood scoring, too. He once had 67 points in a game for Hitchins — a school record.
Baker remembers being completely in rhythm.
“Looking back, it was what everybody calls being in the zone,” he said. “It was going in. Day would turn around and shoot it, then I’d come back on the other end. It was like a fast-moving picture.”
The game was physical — the teams combined for 79 free throws — and it came during an era built for scorers. Pistol Pete Maravich was lighting up college basketball at LSU, and Oscar Robertson had recently dropped 46 for the Cincinnati Royals.
Day, the area’s leading scorer that season, had already scored 60 in a win over Wurtland earlier that month, breaking Brice Thornbury’s record of 58. The 6-foot-9 standout finished with 23 field goals and 14 of 16 free throws in that game.
“Jim Day was a tremendous player,” Baker said. “He had great hands and touch. Just a natural shot.”
Day went on to an outstanding career at Morehead State, earning All-Ohio Valley Conference honors. Baker also played in college, shifting from scorer to facilitator at Rio Grande.
“I was an assist man and defense man,” he said. “If I wanted to start, I had to find my role. We already had All-American scorers.”
Some players struggled with that adjustment.
“They wondered why they weren’t playing,” Baker said. “I knew the secret — sometimes you have to adjust your role.”
In high school, though, both Baker and Day had one job: score. They were part of a region loaded with offensive talent in 1967, a season that featured multiple players averaging 20 or more points per game even though the 3-point shot was still 20 years away.
Late in the 1967 high school season, the top 10 scorers included Day (30.2), Louisa’s Herb Lemaster (22.9), Louisa’s Larry Edwards (21.1), Greenup’s Reece Stephenson (20.7), Hitchins’ Kevin Young (20.1), Raceland’s Mike Hewlett (20.0), Baker (19.6), Catlettsburg’s Roger Zornes (18.8), Boyd County’s Phillip Dowdy (18.1) and Blaine’s Roger Young (18.0).
Russell, which would go on to win the region, had five — Tookie Hilton (16.0), Roger Vanover (15.3), Tom Roberts (13.6), Lanny Miller (11.8) and Steve Radcliff (10.9) — scoring in double figures.
Ashland had four, led by Bob Lynch (17.9), Dan Owens (14.3), John Sieweke and Joe Conley (both 12.0).
Holy Family had four in double figures, too — John Layne (14.7), Tom Davis (13.2), Bucky Morris (12.5) and Maynard Thomas (12.1).
Dave Stultz was Greenup’s second-leading scorer at 12.
But on that February night, there were no better scorers in the 16th Region — and probably not in the state — than Jim Day and Charles Baker.
Ashland’s first game in the Ashland Invitational Tournament – originally called the Greenbo Lake Invitational – took place on Dec. 27,1955 at the Ashland Armory against Raceland.
George Carroll poured in 24 points, and it was only a sign of things to come for the little guard with the dead-eye shooting touch. The Tomcats defeated Raceland 66-47 in the opening game.
Carroll scored 35 as Ashland defeated Holy Family 79-66 in the semifinals and then the Tomcats upended Flat Gap and the great Charlie Osborne, 72-66, in the first championship with Carroll scoring 39.
That’s 98 points in three games, a nearly 33 points per game average, from the senior guard.
Here are the scores from the first tournament:
Opening round
Olive Hill 77, Clark County 61
Ashland 66, Raceland 47
Flat Gap 96, Montgomery County 78
Holy Family 88, Boyd County 67
Semifinals
Flat Gap 62, Olive Hill 56
Ashland 79, Holy Family 66
Championship
Ashland 72, Flat Gap 66
It was a star-studded tournament that came about because of ADI sports editor John McGill. Here is how some of the postseason honors for players in the AIT that first season.
Kenny Meyer of Montgomery County, All-State second team.
Charlie Osborne of Flat Gap, All-State second team.
George Carroll of Ashland, All-State third team.
J.D. Kiser of Olive Hill, All-State third team.
Bill Emmett of Ashland, Buddy Banks of Raceland and Bert Greene of Olive Hill were All State Honorable Mention.
The tournament was called the Ashland Holiday Tournament the second year before becoming the Ashland Invitational Tournament in the third year.
The Ashland Armory was good for Carroll later when he put 52 points on Carr Creek in a game thar preceded the Harlem Globetrotters putting on a show for a packed house of 1,500.
The Tomcats won the game 98-90 in an old-fashioned shootout. It featured Carr and Bobby Ray Shepherd from Kingdom Come. He transferred to Carr Creek and was probably the key to them winning the 1956 state championship a month after playing Ashland. Shepherd was a strong center known for his natural strength, like lifting 100-pound sacks of corn with ease.
His move in 1954-55 from Kingdom Come’s Wildcats to Carr Creek was likely a recruiting issue but due to economic reasons, given his coal-miner family. But he was a big reason the Indians won the crown that March
Two other important people crammed their way into the Armory to watch – Kentucky coaches Adolph Rupp and Harry Lancaster who came to scout Shepherd and got an eyeful from Carroll, too.
The game was played there because it was a preliminary game to the Harlem Globetrotters and basketball magician Meadowlark Lemon. The Globetrotters came out to watch the Ashland-Carr Creek game when they heard the fans stomping and cheering.
What everybody saw was the amazing Carroll scoring what was then a Tomcat record 52 points. He made shots from every conceivable angle as the Tomcats knocked off sixth-ranked Carr Creek. The two-team total of 188 was also an Ashland High School record at the time.
Carroll’s 52-point outburst stood as the Ashland record until Marty Thomas broke it in 1993 with 54 points in the 121-33 win over Jellico, Tenn., that also represents the most points scored by a Tomcat team. Carroll’s total pushed him past Bill Gray’s 48 points in the district win over Wurtland in 1954.
It was an age of basketball when the object was more to outscore the opponent than stop them. Most teams stayed back in 2-3 zone defenses and tried to outrun the opponent in racehorse-style games.
A big reason for that was the coming of age of the jump shot. It had been around just long enough for teams to have players almost perfect it. Ashland had its share of shooters during that time — Earl “Brother” Adkins, Gray and Carroll among them. The fans were eating it up.
Holy Family had Fred Simpson and later his brother, Tim, putting in points from deep outside.
Some of Carroll’s teammates included Don Church, Don Wellman, Dale Griffith, Howard Humphreys and Bill Emmett. Church was a rebounder supreme for the Tomcats who never minded feeding it back out to Carroll, who could stop on a dime from behind the circle and pop them in.
The 5-foot-10 Carroll scored in double figures every game in the 1955-56 season and finished with a 24.3 scoring average. Ashland finished 20-9 after losing to Mt. Sterling in the regional semifinals.
Remember, of course, this was all 30 years before the 3-point line came into being. Carroll and Gray were both bombers from well behind what is now the 3-point arc.
The Globetrotters were so entertained by the Ashland-Carr Creek game that when a reporter came up to talk to them, Meadowlark Lemon told them they needed to talk to those boys. “I’ve never seen a game anything like this,” he said. “These boys are the stars tonight.”
The Globetrotters came out and put on a show for the 1,500 who had jammed their way into the armory. But they couldn’t outscore Ashland or Carr Creek, recording a 74-69 win over the Honolulu Surfriders in a game marked more by showmanship than anything else. The newspaper report said the fans especially howled when the Trotters warmed up with the invisible ball routine.
For more than 50 years, Gary Kidwell, The Old Right Hander, was the voice and the record-keeper of Lewis County athletics. He hosted the Saturday Morning Sports Program on WKKS and wrote the Sports Corner column in The Lewis County Herald, a weekly tradition that connected generations of readers to the achievements of our student-athletes and kept local sports in front of our community.
Kidwell, 82, passed away at Vanceburg Hills nursing facility after a long journey with dementia.
Gary’s impact on Lewis County reached far beyond a microphone or a byline. Over seven decades, he served as a player, coach, teacher, athletic director, umpire, commissioner, and as a tireless supporter of young people in this county and across northeastern Kentucky.
Gary Kidwell was an icon in Lewis County, serving the school system and community for decades. (Photo by Dennis K. Brown, Lewis County Herald)
“Our region has lost a media icon, the Lewis County Lions have lost their biggest fan and best coach, and I have lost a childhood hero as a basketball girl in a neighboring county,” Said State Senator Robin Webb.
“Alice coached the Lewis girls when I played at East,” Webb adds. “They have been mentors, and friends since. I love the Kidwell family and send them love and prayers for comfort.”
Gary Roger Kidwell grew up in the Charters community, played for the Lions in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and later returned home to Lewis County after an early coaching and teaching stint at Millersburg Military Institute.
Beginning in the mid-1960s, Gary taught and coached at Lewis County High School, serving as head basketball coach, head baseball coach, assistant football coach, and later athletic director for nearly two decades.
His baseball teams won hundreds of games, a 10th Region championship and a state quarterfinal appearance in 1977, as well as multiple district titles and an Eastern Kentucky Conference championship.
Lewis County Yearbook Photo of Coach Gary Kidwell.
His basketball teams brought home three straight 62nd District championships in the late 1970s and helped restore pride in Lions basketball. He was instrumental in reviving the football program and helping build up Little League baseball in Lewis County.
After stepping away from the bench, Gary found new ways to serve the sports he loved. He became a respected baseball and softball umpire, working district, regional, and state tournaments and earning recognition as Kentucky High School Umpire of the Year.
He later served as Commissioner of the Eastern Kentucky Conference and as a member of the KHSAA Board of Control, helping guide high school athletics well beyond our county lines.
Gary’s lifetime of work earned him induction into the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Lewis County High School Athletic Hall of Fame, and honors from his alma mater, Morehead State University.
Those plaques and certificates tell part of the story, but they do not fully capture the late nights, long bus rides, and countless hours he invested in our kids and in this community.
For many in Lewis County, though, the most familiar part of Gary’s legacy was his work behind the microphone and in these pages. Since the mid-1970s, he served as sports editor of The Herald, writing his weekly column, covering games, and keeping alive the memories of decades of Lions athletics.
Each Saturday morning, listeners tuned in to WKKS to hear him talk with coaches and players, swap stories, share scores, and shine a spotlight on local student-athletes.
Gary Kidwell during a timeout in his coaching days.
LCHS Principal Jack Lykins said, “For younger people Gary Kidwell is known as the guy on the radio every Saturday morning. For the majority of us, we know him as coach, athletic director, voice of the Lions, friend and ambassador. No matter where you went in the state, if you told someone you were from Lewis County you always got this response: ‘How is Coach Kidwell doing?’ Those in my generation will always call him ‘Coach.’”
I first knew Gary as a student in the 1970s. Like so many others, I watched and learned from him long before I ever worked with him. Later, as an owner and manager of WKKS and publisher of The Herald, I had the privilege of working beside him for many years.
I learned that Gary never stopped working for the kids of Lewis County. If there was a Lions game being played, he wanted to know the score, who played well, and how their efforts could be recognized.
He had an acute sense of humor and must have known thousands of jokes and one-liners. We shared many long road trips, and we passed the time with sports talk and an endless trading of jokes. One particular trip to cover a game in Indianapolis stands out, several hours each direction of jokes, stories, and more jokes. And he still had more in reserve.
George Plummer, longtime family friend, shared, “I am sad to learn that my friend, the old right hander, Gary Kidwell, has rounded third and headed for home. I always enjoyed all the jokes he could tell. He has attended more ballgames than anyone I can think of. Rest in peace, my friend.”
Mike Edington, close friend and longtime media assistant, said, “Gary was a great friend who has given me many good times going to different sports events. It’s hard to say goodbye to someone who has given me so many good memories.”
Chris Perry, a friend and longtime supporter of West Carter athletics, said, “Our region has truly lost another icon. When you thought of Lewis County basketball, you thought of Gary Kidwell. He poured his heart into coaching the Lions, and when his time on the bench ended, he carried that passion straight to the radio table. He gave himself not only to his own community but to the entire region. I truly enjoyed every conversation we shared. My heart breaks for his wonderful wife, Alice, and their family. There’s comfort in knowing he’s now reunited with Merle.”
Tammy Underwood Alburg, former standout basketball player and coach, reflected on Kidwell’s impact: “I wonder if he ever knew that his own impact went far beyond the edges of the court. He touched my life in so many positive and profound ways—offering wisdom, mentorship, friendship, and laughter. Coach Kidwell really and truly is the poster child for one of a kind. Thank you for the positive impact you had on my life, Coach. Tell Merle I said hi.”
Jimmy Lykins, who was coached by Kidwell and later served as LCHS athletic director said, “He was an ambassador for the youth and Lewis County Athletics wherever he went across the state of Kentucky. He will be remembered for his love of athletics and the ability to connect with people wherever he went. He will leave a huge hole in the hearts of Lewis Countians.”
Local leaders also recognized the magnitude of the loss. Judge Executive George Sparks said, “Lewis County lost a true champion for our young people with the passing of Gary Kidwell. For decades, Gary poured his heart into our schools and our community. Generations of student-athletes knew that if they worked hard and represented Lewis County with pride, Gary would be there to tell their story. We are grateful for his lifetime of service and the example he set.”
Gary had a way of making people feel seen. He celebrated the big wins and the quiet, everyday efforts—the role players, the bench, the coaches, the clock keepers, and the folks who swept the gym floor. He encouraged young people to work hard, represent Lewis County well, and carry themselves with pride.
He loved his family deeply. Gary is survived by his wife of 61 years, Alice Kidwell, and by two daughters, Stacy Kidwell of Morehead and Tai Kidwell Hieneman of Flatwoods. He was preceded in death by their son, Gary Merle Kidwell, who passed away on July 18, 2023.
For all his awards and honors, Gary remained grounded in the place he called home, living just across the highway from Lewis County High Schoo, the Home of the Lions. He often said he was blessed to spend his life doing what he loved—coaching, teaching, umpiring, broadcasting, and writing about sports—and to do it right here in Lewis County.
He never forgot where he came from, and he never stopped giving back to the community that supported him.
“I will always remember Gary as a person who loved Lewis County sports,” said Bill Tom Stone. “He spent years coaching young kids and spreading the word about Lewis County sports everywhere he went. His impact on our community is greater than most will ever realize.”
Lewis County has lost an icon, a teacher, a coach, a broadcaster, and a friend. We have also lost a man who believed, week after week and season after season, that our young people and our community were worth showing up for.
“Gary Kidwell was a Lewis County icon,” said Pastor Tom Cox. “He will be remembered most for his contributions to sports, but he was equally successful as a family man, a valuable church member and a positive influence in his community.”
On behalf of The Lewis County Herald and WKKS, we are honored to have worked beside and along with him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, his former players, his colleagues, and the countless people whose lives he touched.
Services will be at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, November 22, 2025, at Vanceburg Christian Church with Pastor Tom Cox Jr. officiating. A fellowship dinner will follow prior to traveling to the burial service at Mound Cemetery in Piketon, Ohio. Visitation will be at the church after 9:00 a.m. Saturday.
Arrangements are under the direction of Gaydos Funeral Home in Vanceburg.
Obituary for Gary Kidwell, 1943-2025
Gary Roger Kidwell, 82, of Vanceburg, passed away peacefully Saturday, November 15, 2025, at Vanceburg Hills, following a long battle with dementia.
A lifelong Lewis Countian, he was born September 20, 1943, at Stricklett, a son of the late Marcus E. (Shirley) Kidwell and Thelma Sapp (Jess) Gulley.
After graduating from Lewis County High School in 1961, Gary pursued a career in education at Morehead State University, earning Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Rank I degrees. While at MSU, Gary met and married his wife of 61 years, Alice Nelson Kidwell, on September 6, 1964.
Gary began his teaching and coaching career at Millersburg Military Institute in 1965. In 1967, he was given the opportunity to return to his home in Lewis County and continue his career, where he would serve the students and athletes of Lewis County Schools for 50 years.
During his time with the Lewis County Schools, “Coach” served in numerous roles. He started out teaching and coaching basketball and baseball and was integral in reviving the football program at LCHS. He later served as athletic director for many years, representing Lewis County on numerous state and national boards. Many Lewis County alumni remember him as the comical driver’s education teacher as he fearlessly taught many young students and members of the community to drive.
Anyone who knew Coach knew his passion for all things sports. He loved his Lewis County Lions, Kentucky Wildcats, Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Bengals, and Morehead State Eagles. His dedicated following of his favorite teams led to his long-time interest in sports media. This afforded him countless opportunities to attend and cover games on local, state, and national stages. He was honored to have the chance to cover his Wildcats in bowl games, SEC and NCAA tournaments, the Reds in the World Series, and the MLB All-Star Game in Cincinnati.
But he was most proud of his local media efforts that he used as a platform to promote local student athletes. Gary hosted a weekly sports radio show, “Saturday Morning Sports,” and wrote a weekly sports column in The Lewis County Herald, “Kidwell’s Korner,” and was the “Voice of the Lions” on WKKS Radio for more than 50 years.
If you attended a Sweet Sixteen basketball tournament in the last 60 years, you were sure to see Gary in attendance sharing stories, jokes, and memories with long-time friends from across the state.
Through his many years of service to the sports world, Gary was honored to receive several cherished awards, including induction into five halls of fame: KHSAA–Dawahares Hall of Fame, KABC Court of Honor, NHSCA Hall of Fame, Morehead State University Alumni Hall of Fame, and Lewis County High School Athletic Hall of Fame. He was also named KHSADA Athletic Director of the Year in 1995 and was a top-5 finalist for National Athletic Director of the Year. Gary also enjoyed umpiring softball, advancing to call multiple state championships. A highlight of Gary’s summer for many years was umpiring at the Mike Borders Beagle Classic. He also spent 26 years as commissioner of the Eastern Kentucky Conference.
Aside from sports, Gary’s greatest loves were his children and grandchildren. You could often find him cheering them on from the sidelines, no matter the sport or activity. He was always proud of their accomplishments and never shy to brag on them to others. He always loved the annual Kidwell family vacations and was guaranteed to provide plenty of content for hilarious stories for years to come.
He was the king of one-liners, always cracking a joke and lighting up a room with laughter. Even into his last months, he was attempting to deliver his famous punchlines with a smile on his face.
Gary was of Christian faith and was a devoted member of Vanceburg Christian Church, serving as a deacon for many years.
Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Alice Nelson Kidwell; two daughters, Stacy Anne Kidwell of Morehead and Tai Kidwell Hieneman (Keith) of Flatwoods; one daughter-in-law, Mandy Kidwell of Flatwoods; six grandchildren, Carson Kidwell, Kate Kidwell, Alex Kidwell, Selah Kidwell, Claire Hieneman, and Jack Hieneman; two brothers, Barry Gulley (Cindy) of Whiteburg, Georgia, and Mark Kidwell (Monica) of Pensacola, Florida; four sisters, Tonia Berry (Charles) and Ginger Miller (Gary) of Flemingsburg, Dana Hammonds (David) of Hebron, and Tara Reed (Brian) of Lexington; and his uncle Kenneth Sapp, who was like a brother to him.
In addition to his parents, he was welcomed into Heaven by his beloved son, Gary “Merle” Kidwell, and his grandparents, Hanson and Maggie Sapp and Ashel and Rosa Kidwell.
Services will be at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, November 22, 2025, at Vanceburg Christian Church with Pastor Tom Cox Jr. officiating. A fellowship dinner will follow the service at the church prior to traveling to the burial service at Mound Cemetery in Piketon, Ohio. Visitation will be after 9:00 a.m. Saturday at the church.
Arrangements are under the direction of Gaydos Funeral Home in Vanceburg.
As Gary said and wrote for many years, “This is the old right-hander saying, ‘Have a good week in sports!’”
MARK MY WORDS 2 