Leah W. Tidball

Leah Tidball died peacefully following a slow decline on March 28 at her home in College Station, Texas with her family by her side. Leah was born in Jersey City, New Jersey as Leah Winnifred Dalziel to Joseph and Edith Dalziel, who immigrated to the United States from their native Scotland. Leah grew up in Brooklyn and then Bellmore, New York.  Leah was a budding artist and received an Associates Degree in commercial art then worked in the advertising industry before marrying William Burri, raising four children and keeping house. Eventually she found her way into the hospitality industry, managing a crew of housekeeping staff and later owning and operating a small motel in Lake George, New York with her second husband Robert Tidball.

Leah was a loving mother and wife, who used her creativity to make all her children’s clothing, to decorate her home, plant and maintain beautiful gardens, and eventually to develop her own style of watercolor painting. In retirement, she spent more time with her art, often painting pictures for friends and family members. Leah loved gardening, dancing and water aerobics, and spending time at the beach. She was involved in her local art league when she moved to Florida and had many friends who were artists or members of the YMCA water aerobics class she attended in Ormond Beach, Florida. With her husband Bob, she square danced for years, making matching outfits for them. After Bob died, she moved to Texas to be closer to her daughter, Pam. Leah was a long time resident of Carriage Inn, Bryan, Texas. She moved to College Station to live with family at the beginning of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Leah was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Tidball; her parents Joseph and Edith Dalziel; her sisters and brothers-in-law Dolores and Bob Neumann and Veronica and Herb Seaman; and two stepchildren, Joann and Bobby Tidball.

Leah is survived by daughters and sons-in-law, Pam and Ethan Grossman of College Station, TX;  Vicki and Keith Cash of Bloomfield, NJ. Barbara Pannoni and Chang Choi of Mountain View, CA; son and daughter-in-law Bruce and Heidi Burri of Sandy, UT and a stepdaughter Sue Perry and her husband John of Edgewater, FL as well as stepchildren Heather and Scott Tidball. She was delighted to have ten grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren.

Leah’s family is forever indebted to Comfort Keepers and Hospice Brazos Valley for the wonderful care Leah received. Funeral arrangements are in the care of Calloway-Jones Funeral and Cremation Center of Bryan.  A small private celebration of life will be held in the near future. Donations in honor of Leah’s memory may be made to Hospice Brazos Valley or St. Judes Children’s Hospital.