Requiescat in Pace - Edward Bradley, SJ, MD.

Ahhh... the Jesuits. This one was very impressive, even by Jesuit standards. A Lt. Commander in the US Navy, Medical Doctor, professor, Jesuit priest. Makes me wonder what I've been doing with my spare time.

Even though Father went to St. Joseph's Prep and St. Joseph's College... I got to know him as he was a long time subscriber to the Walnut Street Theatre where I work. He had one ticket in the first row center orchestra. Occasionally he would need to exchange his ticket and of course would come into the box office for a chat. Although not in the obituary I could have sworn that Father told me he joined the Society, then left to take care of his mother. When she passed he rejoined.

I last saw Father two months ago when he was in Jefferson Hospital. I went to his room, which was empty, and was told he was receiving dialysis, so I went down to keep him company. He was happy to see me and in great spirits. I brought him a book about Avery Dulles, SJ and a prayer card of Walter Ciszek, SJ, to pass the time. He thanked me and mentioned that he and Fr. Ciszek used to have breakfast together in Wernersville, and told  a few Ciszek stories that I'm sure few people have heard.

Luann Cotton Marziani from the Jefferson Foundation told me that "we have another saint to pray to now. Fr. Bradley was a great influence on my life. He will always be “Father Heart and Soul” to me." So true Luann.

Father never shared the Vietnam story with me. We have Miss Saigon currently playing at the Walnut. He would have really enjoyed that, from the first row.

Mission accomplished Fr. Bradley. AMDG.



The Philadelphia Inquirer printed a similar obituary in today's addition. The arrangements are as follows.

BEATI MORTUI QUI IN DOMINO MORIUNTUR

Viewing:

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 6-8 PM
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 9:30-10:30 AM
St. John Bosco Church
235 East County Line Road
Hatboro, PA 19040

Funeral Mass:

Wednesday, June 15 10:30 AM
St. John Bosco Church
235 E. County Line Road
Hatboro, PA 19040

Burial will follow at the Wernersville Jesuit Cemetery.

Notes of condolence may be sent to:

John Kezlaw (cousin)
Lakeview Dr.
Dennisville, NJ 08214

Catherine McClure (cousin)
6312 Ballensby St.
Philadelphia, PA 19149

Anne Schuster (niece)
405 Newton Rd.
Halboro, PA 19040

The poor found in him a generous friend. May they now welcome him into the Heavenly Kingdom.

Saints of God, come to his aid!

Hasten to meet him angels of the Lord!

Receive his soul and present him to God the Most High.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord,

And let perpetual light shine upon him.

May he rest in peace. Amen.




Fr. Edward C. Bradley, SJ, dies
Doctor served the poor, counseled medical students

A Mass of Christian burial will be offered Wednesday for Fr. Edward C. Bradley, SJ. Fr. Bradley died of kidney failure June 8, at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, where he practiced medicine and taught for more than 30 years. A Jesuit for 37 years and a priest for 32, he was 82.

The son of Marie Cecilia Wood and Edward Charles Bradley of Philadelphia, he was born July 18, 1928. He was a graduate of St. Joseph's Preparatory School and earned his bachelors degree from Saint Joseph's College (now University) in 1951 and his MD from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1955.

Dr. Bradley interned at Lankenau Hospital in Philadelphia before going to the U.S. Navy School of Aviation Medicine in Pensacola, Florida, where he served as a flight surgeon and rose to the rank of lieutenant commander.

Additionally, he completed fellowships in cardiology at the University of Goteborg in Sweden and in cardiovascular research at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. He joined the USC faculty in 1964 and was made assistant professor in 1966 and was co-investigator of the circulatory shock unit.

When Dr. Bradley learned of a Jesuit priest in Vietnam in dire need of medical supplies and assistance, he gathered equipment and took it to two Vietnamese villages. He opened clinics there, focusing on tuberculosis and polio cases. He appealed to President Richard Nixon for supplies. Nixon responded with supplies and personnel to inoculate some 8,000 villagers, virtually eradicating the disease in these areas.

In 1974, he resigned from USC to enter the Society of Jesus at the novitiate at Wernersville, Pennsylvania. He professed first vows Sept. 11, 1976. He continued the practice of medicine and in 1975 joined the faculty of Jefferson Medical College. In 1977 he went to study for a master of divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California. During his studies he practiced medicine at St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco and the USC/Los Angeles County Hospital.

Fr. Bradley was ordained a priest June 9, 1979, and served a pastoral year at Old St. Joseph's Church in Philadelphia. The following year, he opened a medical practice in North Philadelphia to care for the poor and rejoined the Jefferson faculty. In 1987, he began serving as a counselor to faculty and students at Jefferson, a position he held until last year.

The medical school honored Fr. Bradley's work several times. The graduating class in 1991 presented his portrait to the university. He received the Clarence E. Shaffrey SJ award from the medical alumni of Saint Joseph's University in 1999. And in 2008, the year after he retired from teaching, Saint Joseph's University Medical Alumni Chapter established the Edward C. Bradley, S.J., M.D. '51 Medical Alumni Award.

Viewing will be held Tuesday, 6-8 p.m. and Wednesday 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at St. John Bosco Church, 235 E County Line Rd, Hatboro, Pa. The Mass of Christian burial will be offered at the church at 10:30 a.m. with burial to follow at the Jesuit Cemetery in Wernersville, Pa.