Beverley Tidwell
Living by the creed, “Our greatest spiritual calling is to foster hope and joy in others,” Beverley embodies resilience and compassion. Raised on a dairy farm in New Zealand, she attended boarding school during her high school years. After earning a nursing degree, she realized medicine didn’t address the deeper struggles of the human condition and set out to find a community aligned with her ideals. This journey began aboard a sailboat to Japan and eventually brought her to New York City.
In 1982, she married her husband, and by 1991, they moved with their five children to Tucson, Arizona, to be near his parents, who had retired there after careers in Jakarta, Saudi Arabia, and South America. What began as a move to care for aging parents taught her the dynamic nature of family relationships.
Life took a devastating turn when her 4-year-old son was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Over the next seven years, her family received mentorship and support from Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation. After her son’s passing at age 11, this profound loss, which she describes as the “circumcision of her heart,” reshaped her values and priorities. Inspired by his kindness—his Make-A-Wish was simply “to be with my Daddy”—she committed herself to personal growth and supporting other families in similar situations.
She began volunteering with Candlelighters, eventually becoming its CEO. Over three decades, she has led therapeutic summer camps, teen proms, holiday gift drives, monthly support groups, and financial assistance programs to help families focus on their child’s medical care. Her work centers on alleviating the isolation families feel, ensuring no one faces childhood cancer alone. Candlelighters’ mission is inspired by the Chinese motto, “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”
Recently diagnosed with breast cancer, she continues to draw on her experiences to foster empathy while striving for balance through self-care. For her, “Heaven is not what we are given but what we must make.”
