Loreta Cotten Bradley

Loreta Cotten was born on her Grandfather's farm on December 30, 1926 in Quinlan, Hunt County, Texas. Her parents, Esker and Beulah, also had two sons, BJ and Wymon, and both sons served in the Air Force during World War II. She graduated from Milby High School in 1943 where she was an ROTC Sponsor. After graduating at age 16 she went to work for Brown Shipbuilding Company in Houston (she told them she was 18). The same year she entered the Miss War Worker contest and was selected as an alternate.

When the War ended in 1945 she landed a job with Federal Civil Service in Dallas. Since then she worked with other federal agencies such as FDIA in Virginia, Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, FHA, V.A. Hospital, Farmers Home Administration and NASA in Houston. While working in Denver she met and married George Bradley,JR. George was attending the University of Denver and they had a son and a daughter.

Loreta retired from NASA in 1979 and took a seven month vacation but got bored and told her children that she wanted to work a little longer. She took a job as a marketing representative for Caesars Palace which had a branch office in Houston. She worked for Caesars for 14 years and during this time met an investor from California who wanted her to buy houses and manage rental property for him. To do this she needed a real estate license so she got hers in 1990.

Loreta is preceded in death by her husband and her son, George III. She is survived by her daughter Marianne, son-in-law Tom Joeckel, two grandchildren, Emily and husband Carson Roberts, Matthew and wife Angela Joeckel, great grandchild Callum Thomas Roberts, and nephews Larry Cotten and Gary Cotten.