Ernest LeRoy "Ernie" Bradley
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3C - May 9, 2021
Ernie Bradley
August 28, 1943 - February 15, 2021
Ernest LeRoy Bradley, 77,
passed away on February 15,
2021, in Marble Falls, Texas.
He was born August 28,
1943, in Roswell, New
Mexico, and grew up near
De Beque, Colorado. Ernest
was a lifelong outdoorsman.
He enjoyed hunting, fishing,
hiking, camping, bird watching,
backpacking, target shooting,
horseback riding, and telling stories about all of the above. When
he couldn’t be in the outdoors, he liked reading or watching shows
about the outdoors.
Ernie also loved people. He could talk a leg off a horse, his
mother might have said. He would often strike up conversations
with strangers and would offer advice on the best hiking route or
the best fishing spot. He was kind and generous and would go out
of his way to help someone in need.
LeRoy, as he was known to family and friends from his youth,
grew up farming and ranching. He graduated with a petroleum
engineering degree from the Colorado School of Mines, and then
served in the US Army as a paratrooper and engineer during the
Vietnam conflict. After his military service, he worked his entire
civilian career at Exxon until eligible for retirement at age 55.
The luckiest day of Ernie’s long life was when he met Betty Joyce
North in 1967, in Grand Junction. One of their early dates was to
go fishing! Their courtship was short and they were soon married
in Hawaii while Lt. Bradley was on shore leave from Vietnam. The
couple lovingly raised three sons, traveled all over the world, and
spent 53 rewarding years together.
Ernie was preceded in death by his father, Cecil; mother, Grace,
and younger sister, Carol. He is survived by wife, Betty; sons,
Todd (Brooke Powers), Kent (Rebecca), and Matthew (Rachel);
grandchildren, Kristina, Elliott, Lorien, and Alina; 11 nieces; two
nephews, and numerous cousins and friends.
He somehow survived country medicine, being shot in the foot
as a child (no kidding), broken bones, a compound fracture of his
finger while hunting in British Columbia, Army food, Viet Cong
snipers, repeated frostbite, and getting lost in the woods more times
than it’s possible to count. But he finally met his match with the
COVID-19 virus. He will be forever loved by all who knew him.
A celebration of life is scheduled June 26, 2021, at 10:30 a.m., at
The Church at Redstone in Redstone, Colorado.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made in
Ernie Bradley’s name to the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society
(bighornsheep.org) or The Church at Redstone (churchatredstone
