More detail on this person: Richard Craig Bradley 12/14/46 - 9/7/18 Richard Craig Bradley, born and raised in Auburn, NY and resided in Fox Island, WA, passed away peacefully at the age of 71. He was resting comfortably at his home, surrounded by friends and family. He is survived by his wife Barbara Bradley (Chapman), son Richard Scott Bradley, daughter-in-law Meghan Bradley (Schliem), sister Barb Freyer (Bradley), and his grandchildren Madison and Benjamin Bradley, niece Sarah Murphy (Freyer), and several other nieces and nephews. Dick was an Army aviator for 24 years, including two tours in Vietnam. He received multiple medals, including the Bronze Star. Dick lived to fly. The aviation bug hit him early; he earned his private pilot's license at age 17. As the Vietnam War raged and his college career ended, he joined the U.S. Army and went to flight school at Mineral Wells, TX, then on to Hunter Army Airfield, GA. He served 12 years on active duty and 12 years with the Washington State National Guard. He retired at the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 4 in 1990. In January 1979 Dick was hired by a small airline named Alaska Airlines. He began his civilian career as an engineer on the Boeing 727. He quickly gained experience and checked out as a Captain 4 short years later. He flew for a total of 28 years for Alaska Airlines on the B-727, MD-80, and retiring on the Boeing 737. His retirement flight was with Scott as his first officer. Dick also was a member of the Quiet Birdmen. He cared deeply for his fellow members, and enjoyed his time spent volunteering as their governor and traveling to the annual convention on behalf of his QB brothers. His parents Willis Craig Bradley and Helen Bradley (Van Riper), his sister Cassandra Bradley, and his oldest son Jeffery Craig Bradley preceded Dick to Heaven. Dick had a reputation as being easy-going. He always had a good joke, and was first to pay the tab on a layover. He was well known for taking care of his crew, both on and off the airplane. He was a smooth pilot and a great instructor. He closed his logbook with over 32,000 hours of safe flying. Richard Craig Bradley will always be remembered fondly by his family, friends, and crew. Captain Bradley, Speed and Altitude your discretion, you are cleared for any approach, cleared to land in Heaven. Godspeed A celebration of his life will be held on Thursday, September 13, 2-3:30 pm, at Mountain View Memorial Park in the Celebration of Life Center, 4100 Steilacoom Blvd SW, Lakewood, WA 98499. In lieu of flowers, please make donations for local cancer care and research to South Sound Care Foundation, P.O. Box 1314, Tacoma, WA 98401-1314 or www.southsoundcarefoundation.org Published in News Tribune (Tacoma) on Sept. 11, 2018
This information was last updated 09/13/2018
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