Tarrant County - Obituaries - Pamela Bradbury *********************************************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Tom and Cheryl Crump Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm *********************************************** Bradbury, Pamela W. Pamela W. Bradbury, 92, a beloved mother and "MiMi," went to be with the Lord on Saturday, Aug. 11, 2007. She left this world peacefully, at home in Fort Worth, surrounded by her family. Funeral: 11 a.m. Wednesday at Ridglea Presbyterian Church. Burial: Greenwood Memorial Park. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Greenwood Funeral Home. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Pam to Ridglea Presbyterian Church. Pam was born June 25, 1915, in Buchanan, Ga. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 1937, then began her lifelong career as a dietitian, beginning with her internship at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Pam was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army stationed in Hawaii at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Pam's career as a dietitian with the Veterans Administration included hospitals in Jackson, Miss., Salisbury, N.C., Danville, Ill., and concluded in 1969 in St. Petersburg, Fla., where she was chief dietitian at Bay Pines, Va. Pam will be remembered for her strong spirit, wonderful sense of humor and love and dedication to her family and friends. She truly was "one of a kind." She married Glenn Bradbury and moved to Fort Worth in 1969. They enjoyed 31 years together that included entertaining and making memories with family and friends. Traveling the world added adventure to their wonderful life together. She was an active member of Ridglea Presbyterian Church, where she served as a deaconess and elder. She loved to serve, especially the children in the church and share her joy of cooking. The family expresses heartfelt appreciation to the loving caregivers who made it possible for her to live at home, Florence McKenzie, Beverly Hervey, Vivian Wilson, Barbrian Bibbs, Dawn Mendiola, Mary Wynn, Teresa McDonald, Dorothy Kelley and Cindy Jones, whose healing touch always made Mom feel "...like a million dollars." Pamela was preceded in death by her husband, Glenn Bradbury, and nine of her 10 brothers and sisters. Survivors: Left to cherish her memory are her daughter, Jan Henckell; son, Ted Henckell and wife, Karen; grandsons, Trent Henckell and Travis Henckell and wife, Marzie; great-granddaughter, Virginia Grace Henckell; brother, Charlie Robert Waddell and wife, Renate; and a wealth of loving friends. Published in the Star-Telegram from 8/13/2007 - 8/14/2007. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAM BRADBURY 1915-2007 She survived Pearl Harbor By SCOTT STREATER Star-Telegram Staff Writer PAM BRADBURY FORT WORTH -- Pam Bradbury spent the evening of Dec. 6, 1941, dancing the night away at the Royal Hawaiian hotel. A 26-year-old Army dietitian at Schofield Barracks Hospital near Pearl Harbor, she awoke early the next morning to the deafening sound of Japanese fighter planes screaming over the barracks. "I ran outside and saw all of those planes," Mrs. Bradbury told the Star-Telegram in 1995. "At first we thought they must be having a dogfight from Wheeler Field. Then we noticed that funny thing on the side of the planes. And then some of the patients said, 'Those are Japanese planes.'" Mrs. Bradbury spent the day at the barracks hospital, where the situation grew so grim that a doctor told her that there were more gravely injured sailors and soldiers than the staff could care for. "He said, 'All you can do is light their cigarettes and hold their hands,'" she told the Star-Telegram in 2001. Mrs. Bradbury died Saturday at her daughter's home in Fort Worth after a recent stroke. She was 92. Mrs. Bradbury was born June 25, 1915, in the small town of Buchanan in west Georgia. She was one of 10 children, and her farming family was dirt poor. Still, Mrs. Bradbury recalled fondly how her parents always ensured that the children had enough food and clean clothes to wear, said son Ted Henckell, 58, of Weatherford. When Mrs. Bradbury was 5, her mother died, and her father feared that he could not care for all the children, so she and one of her sisters were sent to live at a foster home, said daughter Jan Henckell, 56, of Fort Worth. Mrs. Bradbury recognized early that getting an education was a key to a better life. She was a straight-A student, and when she finished high school, a member of her church gave her the money to attend college. She got a degree in nutrition and institutional management from the University of Georgia in 1937. Mrs. Bradbury, an Army lieutenant during the war, married Army pilot Herbert Henckell. They had two children, Ted and Jan Henckell, before they divorced. Mrs. Bradbury worked for years as a dietitian with the Veterans Administration until she married Glenn Bradbury, a college sweetheart, in 1969. The couple moved to Fort Worth. Quick-witted and feisty, Mrs. Bradbury had an acerbic sense of humor that could intimidate those who first met her. "If she called you a jackass, it meant she really liked you," said Jan Henckell, laughing. She said Glenn Bradbury's death in 2000 took a lot out of her mother. But Mrs. Bradbury remained active, serving as a deaconess and an elder at Ridglea Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth. And she never forgot the struggles of her past, establishing a college scholarship fund in Glenn Bradbury's name. The scholarship is given each year through the church to someone who might not otherwise be able to attend college. But age began to catch up to Mrs. Bradbury. She moved into her daughter's home in October. "I was given such a gift to be able to take care of her and be around her," Jan Henckell said. "We had a wonderful time." Mrs. Bradbury revisited Pearl Harbor on three occasions. Though the memories of the attack were unpleasant, she told relatives and friends that she was glad she was there Dec. 7, 1941. "She felt that she was really helping people and her country, and she was really very sincere about that," said Nancy Ritts, a close friend of more than 30 years. "She felt she was doing something for someone else because people had always done things for her. That was very important to her." Services Visitation: 6-8 p.m. today at Greenwood Funeral Home, 3100 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth Funeral: 11 a.m. Wednesday at Ridglea Presbyterian Church, 6201 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth Burial: Greenwood Memorial Park