DOB 10/21/1917
DOD 04/20/2018
Henry G. Brady Jr., age 100, of Clearwater Beach FL, passed away on April 20, 2018 at Cypress Palms Assisted Living in Largo FL after a brief illness. “Hank” Brady was born in Columbia, South Carolina on October 21, 1917 to Henry G. Brady and Juanita Perry Brady.
He graduated from Columbia High School and Clemson University. He entered pilot training in the US Army Air Corps in Texas in 1940. During World War II and the Korean War he served in combat assignments for over three years as squadron and group commander of B24, B25 and A26 units and flew over 164 combat missions. He received over thirty awards and citations including the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, three Presidential Unit Citations (2 US, 1 Korea), twelve Campaign Stars and the South Korean ULCHI Medal with Silver Star. He was promoted to Colonel US Army Air Force Reserve at the end of World War II and returned to civilian life. Later, he accepted a regular commission and served in Korea, Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, Air War College, the Pentagon and Weisbaden, Germany. During the Cold War with Russia, he was CO for several years of a special activities group operating from bases in central Europe, Turkey and North Africa which received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award in 1961. He was also CO of the First Fighter Wing at Selfridge AFB, Michigan and retired from the Air Force in 1962.
He retired after twenty years service, moved to Florida in 1962 and entered the educational profession. He had received a BS degree from Clemson College years earlier and, after completing a Masters Degree at the University of Florida, received a fellowship from Florida State University for doctoral studies in Adult Education and Urban Planning while teaching part time. Upon completion of the PhD degree he became Director of Graduate Studies in Adult Education at the University of South Florida in Tampa from 1969 to 1984. During this period he developed off-campus degree programs in numerous locations in Florida, including Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Arcadia, Ocala, Orlando, Zephyrhills and MacDill AFB.
He retired again in 1984 and lived in Clearwater at Sand Key and in Naples FL. Due to illness, he moved to Cypress Palms Assisting Living Center, Largo FL in 2016 where he was residing at the time of his death.
He is survived by 3 daughters and 2 sons: Patty Crawley (Wayne) of High Springs FL, Jeanne Bryson (Henry) of Sylva NC, Beverly Pankiw (George) of Soddy Daisy TN, Henry “Hank” Brady III of Naples FL, James “Jim” Brady (Julia) of Portland ME; grandchildren: David Crawley, Scott Crawley, Christopher Pankiw, Rachel Pankiw, Lila Brady and Claire Brady; great grandchildren: Kinsey Crawley, Connor Crawley, Eliza Crawley, Paxton Pankiw, Hunter Bryson, Coleman Bryson and Walker Bryson; one sister, Betty Brady Stockman of Columbia SC and her daughter, Sherie Harbin (John) of Lexington SC. His brother, William (“Bill”) Perry Brady, a pilot with the 20th Fighter Group, was killed in WWII and is survived by his son, William “Bill” Brady Jr., Spreckles CA. Katherine Brady McCulloch of Columbia SC, sister of Henry Brady, predeceases him. He is also predeceased by three grandsons, Jason Pankiw, Brian Bryson and Brandon Bryson.
He was married to the former Betty Bain of Sylva NC, deceased, and was also previously married to the former Frances H. Bradford of Tampa FL who now lives in Naples FL.
BURIAL WITH MILITARY HONORS WILL BE AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2018
He was an accomplished and published writer of poetry during his lifetime, writing about WWII and Korea, his brother, Bill, who died in WWII; a poem about his mother, Juanita P. Brady; many poems about sailing and one of the family favorites which is listed below:
Sands of Life
By Henry G. Brady, Jr.
The words I wanted to write
Are scattered along life‘s highways
Like some of the things I could have said
And chose not to say.
And the dreams I dreamed
Are still floating around in some distant sky,
Like the chances I had for riches and wealth
And let them all pass by.
But deeds can’t be measured in dollars,
Nor values in nuggets of gold,
And the dreams we dreamed when very young
Shouldn’t bother those getting old.
For life is constantly changing
As the sea shifts the sand on the shore,
And the things we once thought we had to have
Don’t intrigue us at all anymore.
So live for today and be cheerful.
Don’t worry about things you can’t change.
Plan if, you will, for tomorrow
But tomorrow will not be the same.
Help others less favored than you
Even though some are much older.
And soon the golden butterfly of happiness will come
And light upon your shoulder.
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