Lillie Kidd, 95; Longtime Santa Paula Resident

Lillie Kidd, who lived in Santa Paula for more than 50 years and who worked on the Limoneira ranch, died Tuesday in a Fillmore nursing home. She was 95.

Kidd was born July 22, 1902, in Coalgate, Okla. When she was 17, she married Felix Kidd. The couple raised a family and worked as farmers until 1944, when they moved to Santa Paula.

“My sister, Lucille, had moved to California, and she encouraged them to come out,” said Kidd’s daughter, Maceline Polk, also of Santa Paula. “We all moved out here, and they worked on the ranch.”

Kidd was gentle, loving and kind, Polk said.

“She was just the sweetest person in the whole world; she’d give you the shirt off her back if you needed it,” she said. “She and my father didn’t have much, but what they had, they shared.”

Kidd was a good cook, known for fare such as fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables and a delicious pineapple upside-down cake, Polk said.

“Nothing fancy, just good food,” Polk said. “She had a gift.”

In addition to Polk, Kidd is survived by her daughter, Lucille Boyle of Santa Paula; five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at the Pierce Brothers Stetler Mortuary Chapel. Burial will follow at Santa Paula Cemetery.

Friends may call at the mortuary today from 2 to 5 p.m.

Arrangements are under the direction of Pierce Brothers Stetler Mortuary in Santa Paula.