Wilda L. Bradley

A truly remarkable woman left us last Friday, when Wilda Lavon Bradley of Morgantown passed away at the age of 93. Wilda was born on the family farm off Route 26 outside Fellowsville, in Preston County, on June 24, 1923. Her parents, Elmer and Florence Shay Goff, had seven children, of whom Wilda was the youngest. Her life began with a near-tragedy: the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, and while one of her brothers rushed on horseback to fetch a doctor, her sister Ova and a midwife unwound the cord and saved Wilda's life. Aspects of the life that unfolded would be incomprehensible to many of us. Because of its remote location, the farm had no phone and the only running water ran down a hillside by the house. Wilda spent the first 18-years of her life in a home without electricity. And when she turned six, she had to walk two and a half-miles, each way, to first grade along Route 92. She remembered having to trudge through snow that was up to her knees some days. That's when Wilda caught pneumonia and, again, nearly died. She recalled being bed-ridden so long, she had to learn to walk again. Still, hers was largely a happy life. Caring for lambs and kittens on the farm. Riding with her mother on a horse-drawn wagon to Fellowsville to sell cottage cheese they'd produced themselves. Socializing on the front porch with friends from York's Run Road. Attending the annual Shay family reunion at Shay's Chapel. Wilda's world expanded after she graduated from Fellowsville High. She frequently traveled to Morgantown to visit her dearest sister, Ruby, and it was in Ruby's kitchen that she was introduced to a guy from Thornton named Bob. Ruby's husband Bond worked with Bob at WVU , maintaining buildings and grounds. It was hard work, and one night Bond thought Bob deserved a good, hot meal, so he invited him over for dinner. In May of 1941, Wilda and Bob eloped. Bob later traded his work gloves for a rifle and spent World War Two in Europe, with the Army's 254th Field Artillery Battalion. Wilda stayed Statewide, near the Fort Gordon military base in Georgia. Fast forward to 1946. Bob was back, and he and Wilda were living on University Avenue in Morgantown, in a small house on a hillside that was almost entirely vertical. Folks nowadays call the street Don Knotts Boulevard and there's a lot of greenery, but back then, it was a lively neighborhood, with dozens of homes and a supermarket and busy train tracks across the road, down by the river. Their daughter, Sandra Lea, was born in November, and six years later, her brother, Michael Glenn came along. Bob expanded the house almost single-handedly and Wilda kept her family happy and well-fed on a tight budget. Her meatloaf, potato soup and holiday dinners were superb. The Bradleys had to move when the state decided to widen the highway more changes were to follow. She finally wore down Bob's resistance to the idea of her working outside the home. First, behind the counter at Fredlock's Pharmacy on High Street, and then, in what were probably the happiest days of her life, at the WVU Library, Downtown, where she was a ray of sunshine at the Circulation Desk for a quarter-century. Students and professors from all over the world who worked with her loved her. And she, them. Then retirement. She travelled a little. And relished every moment with her kids and grandkids and great-grandkids. Read a lot. A lot! Beat everybody at checkers. Kept house. Doted on Bob. Never got a driver's license, though. Bob didn't approve. It was a huge disappointment she squelched, even after Bob passed away in 2013. But just a few weeks later, she bought a car so her son could drive her to the cemetery and to doctors and to her favorite restaurants: Eat'n'Park in Suncrest, Jerry's in Grafton and Company's Comin' in Fellowsville, not far from where she grew up. Wilda was slight in stature but she was strong. She persevered after a hip repair and two hip replacement surgeries. She struggled with arthritis, a chronic cough and osteoporosis. Pneumonia always seemed to lurk nearby. She taught herself to read lips because her hearing aids were never precise enough. But she kept smiling and in her final months, she could still push her Rollator to sit on her beloved side porch. And she was looking forward to finally being able to vote for a woman for President of the United States. She never got that chance. Her heart and lungs finally gave out a half-hour before the start of the Labor Day weekend. She died peacefully and comfortably, the way most of us would choose to go. Wilda was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and her siblings Ruby Stone Carr, Ova Felton and Ray, Ross, Harold and Agnes Goff. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Sandra and Bill Mason of Columbus Ohio and son Michael of Morgantown her granddaughters Amanda Isaacs of Delaware Ohio, Lisa Duvall of Dayton Ohio and Dana Bradley of London England and her great-grandchildren Madison, Aaron, Gabriel, Mary-Clare and Gemma Isaacs and Ellie, Michael and Alex Duvall. Wilda's family would like to thank the hundreds of friends she gathered over the years. From Mary Hupp, her best friend from their days back on the farm porch, to Ingrid Haislip, Virginia Cottrell, Melissa Kyre and Jeri Stone, who took such loving care of her in her final years, and Ann Dunn, the sister she acquired when they shared a room at the Madison Center, to mention just a few. And the family cat, Rosie. Visitation and remembrances for Wilda Bradley will be held at the Dering-Henson Funeral Home in Morgantown from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 8, 2016. She'll be reunited with Bob at the National Cemetery at Prunytown, WV the next morning. Condolences: www.dering-henson.com

Wilda passed on September 2, 2016

Visitation will be 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Thursday, September 8, 2016

Services will be held on September 9, 2016

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