Robert W. Bradley

Robert (Bob) Whitney Bradley of Marblehead, 96, died peacefully at home December 21, 2008. Born March 10,1912, his family hailed from Keene New Hampshire and moved to Lynn where Bob was born and grew up with his devoted older brother, the late S. Whitney Bradley of Marblehead. For 66 years Bob was the dearly beloved husband of the late Marguerite (Margie) Jones Bradley, with whom he raised two accomplished daughters, Carolyn (Chris) Martin of Vineyard Haven and Elizabeth (Betty) Kent of Marblehead. Inseparable, Margie and Bob enjoyed a long life together gardening, birding, and walking the beaches of Marblehead with their dogs, dining, dancing, and traveling. Among their favorite destinations was Hawaii, which they explored with great relish over a dozen times. Bob was blessed with a fertile mind, an unquenchable yearning to learn, and the strong desire to contribute to society, especially through his innovative inventions in the mechanical sciences. He graduated magna cum laude from Tufts School of Engineering in 1935; and, during World War II, he worked for Sylvania. A senior staff engineer in the Research Division at the United Shoe Machinery Corporation of Beverly for many years, he held 22 patents, six in basic sciences. He was particularly proud to have created a device that sounded whenever a tack pushed through the sole of a shoe. As a result factory workers no longer injured their hands when inspecting shoes. Bob’s vocation was his passion. He earned an amateur radio license (W1FIN) as a young man, keeping its registration current his life long; and he was a licensed pilot. An inveterate Yankee-tinkerer, he spent untold fulfilling hours in his basement workshop—in earnest a home laboratory. There, among many other things, he built his own two-seater airplane similar to a Cheroke. Much to the delight of his five grandchildren who had watched it slowly take shape over the span of 15 years. When the plane would no longer fit in Bob’s basement, he built a temporary hangar in his backyard to finish its assembly before taking flight. A good-natured fixture on the local scene in Marblehead, where he lived for more than 65 years, Bob liked to strike up new friendships as well as renew old ones across generational lines. Throughout his life, Bob found meaningful fellowship at the Whiting Club, the Masonic Philanthropic Lodge F&AM, the Old North Church and the Driftwood Breakfast Club. In addition to his two daughters and their husbands, Kenneth E. Martin and Peter V. Kent, he leaves: five grandchildren, Deborah Martin Kao wife of Ken-sin of Brookline, Jeffery A. Martin of Marblehead, Gregory A. Martin husband of Pernille (Bullock) of Marblehead, Heather (Kent) Bernardin wife of Georges of Collegeville, PA, Charlene (Kent) Giangrande wife of Chris of Marblehead; nine great-grandchildren, Hannah and Louise Kao, Henry and Samuel Martin, Grace Martin, John and Melissa Bernardin, and Trevor and Owen Giangrande; as well as a niece, Meredith (Bradley) Warren of Palo Alto, CA, and two nephews, Stephen W. Bradley of New York and Robert L. Bradley of Marblehead and their families. In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to The Salem Mission, P.O. Box 810, 56 Margin Street, Salem, MA 01970 or to a charity of your choice. A Memorial Service will be held at 11AM on Saturday, January 10, 2009 in the Old North Church, 35 Washington Street, Marblehead.