Robert ‘Bob’ Bradley

Robert “Bob” Bradley, 86, of Sheridan, died Saturday, March 27, 2010, at the Sheridan VA Medical Center, surrounded by family. Services were Tuesday at the VA Medical Center chapel with Gary Kopsa officiating. An honor guard ceremony and 21-gun salute conducted by the American Legion and the Wyoming National Guard is 3 p.m. Thursday at Sheridan Municipal cemetery with cremation and burial to follow. Arrangements are with Champion Ferries Funeral Home. Born July 7, 1923, to Harrison Bradley and Mildred Lowry Bradley, he grew up in Cavalier, N.D., and graduated from Grand Forks High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Snelling, Minn., and served in the Pacific Theatre during WWII. He participated in three battles on le Shima island, on Okinawa, and was involved in the liberation of the Philippines. The war ended as he was being readied for the invasion of Japan. After the war, he was sent to South Korea. He was discharged from active service at Fort Lewis, Wash., in 1946. His U.S. Army decorations included the Philippine Liberation Medal with bronze service star, the Asiatic Pacific Service Medal, the American Theatre Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal and the Victory Medal. He also was awarded the sharpshooter medal. For a time after the war, he worked highway construction in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. He met Sheridan native Tana Flory in 1946 at a dance in Sheridan. They married April 7, 1947, in Miles City, Mont. He joined the Sheridan Police Department in 1951, working his way through the ranks for 22 years, becoming Chief of Police in the early 1970s and serving as chief until retirement. He served with the U.S. National Guard for more than 20 years, retiring as a staff sergeant. For the last few years of duty with the Guard, he was the local Sheridan recruiter. He was decorated by the Wyoming National Guard for his years of service and for tenure as a recruiter. After leaving the Guard, he began work driving heavy equipment for the Big Horn Coal Mine for 10 years. He built the couple’s “dream home” on Big Goose Road from bricks from the old Sheridan Memorial Hospital. He was a member of the Wyoming Peace Officers Association, the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was a member of First Baptist Church. Mr. Bradley was preceded in death by a brother, Mark. Survivors include his wife; six children, Robert C. Bradley of Sheridan, David Bradley of Sheridan, Penny Mentock-Barkan of Sheridan, Susan Bradley Woody of Montrose, Colo., Mark Daniel Bradley of Houston, Texas, and Kevin Bradley of Sheridan; ten grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

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