During the Lombardi era, he volunteered as an equipment manager for the Packers. And like everyone else in town, he was devoted to the home team. Tom appreciated Mother Nature, especially taking a walk in the woods. He also relished an ice-cold Heineken, made even colder with ice cubes. Tom loved ice cream so much his military buddies nicknamed him Ice Cream Brad. “I’m sure she has many fine qualities,” Tom might say. Positive, hopeful and kind, he managed to find the good in others, even the most obnoxious of souls. Sensitive and big-hearted, Tom was man enough to believe in the benefits of a good cry. A handsome black-haired, blue-eyed Irishman, Tom was proud of his Celtic heritage and enjoyed the trip of a lifetime to Ireland with his son in 2001. Tom earned a two-year degree from Manitowoc County Teachers College and taught junior high school briefly before moving into sales. The two had been married 66 years at the time of his death. LaVerne is of Bohemian descent, and so Tom was destined to a lifetime of polka-band weddings. In 1950 he married LaVerne Sauer, a farm girl from Whitelaw, whom he met at a dance when he was 17 and she was 14. Back home in Cooperstown, Tom took flying lessons and is believed to have been the first private pilot to land an airplane at newly built Austin Straubel airport. After graduation he enlisted in the US Air Force and was stationed in Japan at the end of World War II. An outstanding athlete while at Denmark High School, he lettered in three sports – baseball, basketball and boxing. Born July 18, 1926, on the family dairy farm in Cooperstown, Manitowoc County, to Thomas and Luella Bradley, young Tommy was the middle child of nine siblings. So impressed were race organizers by Tom’s perseverance, they made him honorary chair of the next year’s event. In one memorable marathon he became separated on the course from his daughter, was tracked down by a sheriff’s deputy, and captured on film by television cameras as the last race finisher, hours after a speedy Kenyan won the contest. Into his 80’s he hoofed the 26.2-mile Green Bay Marathon, undeterred by his two artificial hips. A tough old buck, Tom walked up to 10 miles on a given day. In retirement he channeled his work ethic into volunteer commitments including ringing the holiday bell for the Salvation Army and serving as a bread runner. Tom loved his job and wished he’d never retired. He spent his career with Encyclopedia Britannica, winning national sales awards, selling to schools and libraries throughout Wisconsin and the upper Midwest.
WOTJA 2017 FULL
Longtime Ashwaubenon resident Tom Bradley, 90, a retired district sales manager, community volunteer and long-distance walker – who once served as honorary chairman of the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon – died under a full moon on Friday, January 13, from the afflictions of his years.
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