Christopher Wayne Kidwell Sr., born 12 August 1948, went to be with the Lord on the 23rd of April 2024, at the age of 75. Chris, a lifelong Chattanoogan, is survived by Carlene Ann Kidwell, his wife of 51 years, their four children and spouses, and 13 grandchildren:
· Christopher Wayne Kidwell Jr. (Dontie) and children Christopher III, Luke, Leena, and Caleb.
· Brooke Mizell (Danny) and children Marshall and Madelyn.
· Paige Bowman (Ryan) and children Carlie, Izzie, Brylie, and Lucie.
· Mark Kidwell (Kendra) and children Annie, Tessa, and Boone.
Chris graduated from Chattanooga High School and Columbia Bible College. During his childhood, Chris was actively involved in the Boy Scouts of America and the Chattanooga Boys Choir.
As a young man wanting to serve his country, Chris joined the United States Navy, and was honorably discharged after serving a tour in Vietnam on the USS Henry W. Tucker.
Passionately pursuing excellence in everything he did, Chris was a top salesman for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company for about 10 years. He was a fellow in the Rotary Club.
His faith and passion for helping hurting people led Chris to focus on avenues that were geared towards healing marriages and families. He volunteered his counseling services in Grundy County, worked with prison ministry at First Presbyterian, worked for Campus Crusade for Christ, and was a strong pro-life advocate and supported the demolition of the Chattanooga Abortion Clinic. He was ordained in 1994 by the Evangelical Church Alliance.
With a vision for providing care to those who may not seek it out on their own, Chris founded and became the executive director of The Zacchaeus Group, which provided counseling and resources for employees of local and regional companies and their immediate families. Chris ran and grew The Zacchaeus Group for over 20 years.
Chris’ faith was an integral part of his life as an active participant at Hixson Presbyterian Church and was an elected deacon and elder there for many years. He then became an active member of Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church and later First Presbyterian Church.
Always a student, Chris became board certified in traumatic stress and crisis counseling and he was a Tennessee Supreme Court approved mediator. He was a board-certified crisis and professional counselor, coach, and board certified in traumatic stress. He was a specialist in International Critical Stress Foundation.
His loved ones would like to honor Chris and his life of service, love of country, family, and God through a celebration of life service which will be held at First Presbyterian Church located at 554 McCallie Avenue, Chattanooga TN, 37402, on May 10th at 12:30, with visitation following.
Chris loved his family very much. He would be there for any of us at a moments notice, no matter what he was doing at the time. We all knew his number one priority was God, second was his wife, and then his children.
Following his wishes, it is asked that in lieu of flowers, please send donations to https://www.samaritanspurse.org/education-2/operation-heal-our-patriots/, or https://www.familylife.com, or https://joniandfriends.org/family-retreat/.
