Mrs. Verlean Laveretta (Collins) Tidwell was born on a farm between Taft and Boynton in Oklahoma. She was the daughter of Jim C. and Etta (Teague) Collins. She was the last girl in a family of nine children. She married Harry H. Tidwell (1885-1952) on November 19, 1936, a widower with five grown children. From this union came five children, all of whom were born and reared in Independence, Kansas.

Seven years after her husband Harry died, Verlean remarried, this time to Andrew Dillard Vetaw (1901-1978). From 1972 until her retirement in 1982 she worked at Automotive Controls Corporation in the Voltage Regulators Department. A devoted member of Maple Street Baptist Church in Independence, Kansas, she received numerous awards for more than 50 years of service to the church and community. She was also a founding member of the Independence Black Homecoming Committee and, for more than two decades, helped to lead this national effort to reunite current and former Independence residents.

At her death in 2012, Verlean Tidwell left behind a considerable family of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews to mourn their loss and celebrate her life.