Rowena Kidd Talbot was born in 1928 to William George Kidd and Della Agatha McLaughlin Kidd in Birmingham Alabama. After attending Birmingham-Southern College, she graduated from Auburn University with a Bachelor of Arts. Rowena then became one of the first hundred Delta Airline stewardesses. While vacationing in Paris she met her future husband Paul Tambellini and after agreeing to marry him they moved to Brussels Belgium. There she gave birth to her son Paul William Tambellini. Subsequently, the new family moved to Paris, then Rome and Milan. Upon returning to the United States, they lived in New York City and St. Louis, ultimately ending up in Bethesda, MD. She joined the Treasury Department where she worked for the next twenty-eight years. She retired from the United States Government having achieved a high level as a benefits specialist, one of the first woman to break through the glass ceiling. After retiring, she returned to her hometown of Birmingham Alabama.
She continued to travel all over the world including riding a camel in Australia. She was loved by all who knew her for her sense of humor, kindness, quick-witted repartee, and an irrepressible joy of life. She was always planning trips, parties, or get-togethers well into her nineties. She founded and moderated three play-reading groups. She remained independent and enjoyed life, an inspiration to women and men alike. To paraphrase a Frank Sinatra song, “She did it her way.”
She is survived by her son, Mr. Paul William Tambellini and daughter-in-law Dr. Marianne DiBrino, beloved niece Ms. Delia Kidd, nephews Mr. John Kidd and Mr. William Kidd, and sister-in-law Mrs. Katherine Kidd. She is predeceased by her brother George Kidd, sister Anna Catherine Grace, mother Della Agatha Kidd, and father William George Kidd. Also, her husband of thirty-five years, Paul Tambellini.
A service will be held at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, 2120 Third Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama at 10 A.M. on Friday, September 15, 2023, with a luncheon to follow at the Cathedral.
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