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Thursday, June 29, 2017
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Anthony W. Ingrassia posted a condolence
Monday, March 3, 2014
Eulogy for Marie Bradley - Passed on 2/18/2014
Funeral Service Saturday, 2/22/2014 at The Church of the Holy Cross Episcopal Church, North Plainfield, NJ:
“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)
Dearly beloved, it has been a tremendous blessing to be one of Marie Bradley’s grandchildren. Marie has always been known as Granmarie to her six grandchildren throughout our lives and now also by her seven growing great-grandchildren as well. Many other friends of hers and ours know and love her as Granmarie as well. I have preferred to address her as My Dear, Sweet, Beautiful Granmarie for the last 15 years or so.
Granmarie was so dear to me all my life, as a very adventurous and fun loving grandmother, as a very wise and caring teacher and roll model, and as a constant source of encouragement. Granmarie was also very sweet to me all my life, as she never failed to compliment me or find elaborate ways of saying how much she loved me. Granmarie was also very beautiful with her graceful and classy disposition and her physical beauty and elegance that was admired and complimented by both friends and strangers all throughout her life.
She has personally shown me so many acts of kindness large and small that I could never remember or describe more than a small fraction of them, but there were many to be sure. It was wonderful to grow up living close by to her and my grandfather and it was a blessing to live close by to her from the time of my college graduation to the present day. From my earliest memories she was always enthusiastic to provide a special treat, activity, or kind word to make our time together special for me. I also have fond memories of some trips we took together such as seeing the horses swim through the water at Chincoteague Island in Virginia or visiting Granmarie’s cousins in Torino, Italy.
I have been truly blessed and have personally benefited so much by being in my Grandmother’s presence, and talking with her on the phone, and I’d like to take 10 minutes to share a bit more about what I have seen and heard in my 42 years in the Granmarie fan club.
I have seen Granmarie sing songs for large crowds, smaller groups, and many times just for me. She had a quality of voice and stage presence that was really top notch. She had a sizable fan base in the local area and I have heard many compliments about her singing and requests for encores over the years. I especially liked her patriotic singing of “God Bless America” and her very moving rendition of “Danny Boy.”
I have seen Granmarie create amazing works of art and take great pleasure in gifting it to others. She had a wonderful ability to make beautiful crafts out of common materials. Her talent as a calligrapher was exceptional and the standards that she set for her own work were extremely high. She would scrap a nearly finished piece, that she spent hours creating, and start over rather than presenting something that she felt was mediocre in any way. Her countless creations over the decades have adorned homes and offices of so many in her community and her great efforts have brightened our family’s holidays and special occasions with these unique gifts of time and love.
I have seen Granmarie work the rocks, soils, and plantings of her gardens at a pace and intensity that even the strongest of manual laborers might have difficulty keeping up with. She and my grandfather worked very hard to achieve their dream house and property in Green Brook Township, that was affectionately known as “Paradise Acres.” Along with her tremendous hands-on effort, she also had a great gift for garden and landscape architecture, and maintained her creations to an exceptional level. She even was asked and allowed people to take their wedding photos in her gardens.
Granmarie also took great care with the interior of her house as well and, between my grandfather’s craftsmanship, and Granmarie’s eye for decorating and interesting collectibles, they were able to create a warm and unique atmosphere that Granmarie was able to enjoy up until the final months of her life.
Granmarie spoke of her memories of surviving during The Great Depression and she had a tremendous work ethic. She had great admiration for her own parents and grandmother. Throughout her life she carefully tracked and made note of all of her expenditures so that she could balance things right to the penny at all times. If five cents was unaccounted for she would be disappointed and track down the discrepancy.
I admire how she learned on the job and also studied to advance her career, and know that she took great pride in her work and must have been a great manager at Shackamaxon Country Club. She still received letters and birthday cards from some of her coworkers there even though it had been decades since they worked together. Throughout her life, in any establishment, she was always sure to compliment, the staff and their managers, often times sending a written note, to applaud good service, as she explained that many people are quick to complain but don’t make an effort to extend a compliment.
Granmarie was a strong patriot and exhibited her great love for this country in so many ways, though mostly on the local level. She was the Chairperson of the Green Brook Flag Day Celebration for our country’s 1976 Bicentenial. She was an active and longtime member of the July 4th Parade Committee, for Plainfield and North Plainfield, and I remember being excited to see her there and knowing that she played a part in organizing that great event each year.
She was a proud member of American Legion Post 119 in Dunnellen and collected clothes and blankets for the older and disabled Veterans in the Menlo Park Home and Hospital. I had the pleasure of joining Granmarie, and some of the other wonderful members of Post 119, on some of the holiday visits to Menlo Park. It was so awesome to see Granmarie joking with, and thanking and praising the veterans there while handing out cake, ice cream, and other holiday treats. Many times she was politely asked if it would be OK to give her a hug or a kiss and she always said yes and then returned the hug or kiss with even more hugs and big kisses on the cheek! She could not bare to think that these heroic veterans might not have the basic necessities like warm blankets, sweat shirts, or slippers and she remained dedicated to help in any way she could. She had tremendous love and respect for the members and leadership at Post 119, especially praising Bill Uhler and his family on so many occasions.
Granmarie was an amazing combination of being a strong self-starter, that could get a ton of charitable work done independently, and yet also be a great team player that was willing to take on a leadership role, or a supporting role, in helping a charitable group achieve their goals. One example of this was her thirty years of dedicated service on the Board of Directors of the American Red Cross Plainfield Chapter. I had the pleasure of attending some of the big band concert fundraisers that she coordinated and also kicked-off by singing “God Bless America.” In more recent years I also witnessed her dedication to attending the meetings of the Lions Clubs for Green Brook, Watchung, and Warren to request donations of Thanksgiving turkeys, making it possible for the Red Cross to provide hundreds of turkeys to needy families. She also collected thousands of clothing items for the needy over the years and, if the clothes were not clean when dropped off to her, she would wash and fold them before distributing them because she believed it was the right thing to do.
Granmarie was completely unbiased regarding race and was an ambassador of good will while performing acts of charity. She regularly brought donated items directly to people in their homes, no matter what the reputation of the particular neighborhood might be. She was unafraid, as she believed that God protected her from all harm. This belief also carried over into regularly picking up hitchhikers which was also a bit worrisome to me. Granmarie was certainly willing to stick her neck out in order to help others and so also enjoyed her association with the local Turtle Club, especially praising Dr. Ahmed, who she considered to be a saintly man.
I consider Granmarie a saintly woman and really appreciated her devotion to her prayer life. She prayed to Jesus constantly, kissed his picture at the start and finish of every day, and never failed to make the sign of the cross when driving past a church, no matter what denomination it was or how many churches she passed on a given car ride. She prayed daily to and for her loved ones that passed away. I know she had a special place in her heart and prayers for my brother Chris and it took all of her strength to handle his loss in the destruction of the Twin Towers. She prayed for help to get through her own difficulties and for God to help countless other friends, family, and strangers that might be suffering.
Granmarie also really loved The Church of the Holy Cross and her fellow parishioners. I remember attending the beautiful midnight masses here on Christmas Eve as a boy and saw her love and enthusiasm for this parish then. In later years I was blessed to attend mardis gras nights and other festive events here with Granmarie and could see that her love and enthusiasm had only grown stronger with time. She loved Father Auberry dearly, and respected his great service so much, and regularly proclaimed him a “True Emissary of God” and praised him until her final days. She appreciated her history with Holy Cross so much, having attended church here since she was 13 years old, being married here, her daughter also being married here, and all of the life-long friendships that grew here over the years. She loved so many of the active members and their children and had especially high praise for her friends Charlie and Gloria Peterson and of course Win Kohler who was a wonderful gentleman, friend and companion that brought so much joy to her life until his passing in 2002.
Granmarie also had great enthusiasm and love for Green Brook Township. She moved there in 1947 with her husband Jack and two children Gerald and Gloria. I’m not sure exactly what year it was that she started regularly attending the council meetings but she attended very regularly up until this last year or so due to health problems.
I enjoyed hearing Granmarie talk of her experiences while working as the town’s Zoning Official for a number of years. She took great pride in being organized, knowledgeable, and fair while serving the citizens of Green Brook. She took her responsibility in that position seriously as she believed that streets, neighborhoods, and whole towns could experience a rapid domino effect of decline if even one property was neglected and allowed to decline.
She also felt strongly that the town’s governing bodies needed to maintain a careful balance between maintaining high standards and not going too far in curtailing freedom to live and do business without unnecessary interference and tax hikes. Granmarie was very outspoken at town meetings and felt that it was her duty as a citizen to be informed and provide feedback directly to the governing body, rather than complain or talk badly about elected officials behind their backs.
Granmarie however contributed far more than just her outspoken opinions. She volunteered countless hours over the years to help support her community in addition to her efforts on the Planning Board and as Zoning Officer. She was tireless in going door to door to request support from local businesses on a number of occasions. She helped raise several thousand dollars for new furniture when the Municipal Building was flooded. She collected thousands of dollars for the new Memorial Park built in remembrance of those killed on 9/11. She helped coordinate the delivery of hundreds of hot food items for the volunteers working at the town cleanup days. She also consistently followed up with thank you notes for those kind enough to donate. Granmarie also loved the Green Brook Police Department and praised them to her final days. Our family is very thankful to them for their loving care of Granmarie.
Granmarie was honored as a Green Brook Volunteer of the Year. She was honored with a STAR Award from the Somerset County United Way for her outstanding volunteerism. There is also a street named Bradley Court in Green Brook in recognition of Granmarie and her husband Jack.
I will close by saying that Granmarie did not seek recognition for her acts of charity. Most of the giving of her time, treasure, and talented efforts were anonymous and so many acts of kindness are not remembered when so many decades pass and a person like Granmarie just keeps on giving decade after decade. If not for a bad case of lyme disease, I believe that Granmarie would have been one of those few to remain active past 100 years old. She handled her loss of good health with great courage and grace. There is great comfort and joy in knowing that she is in the Heavenly Kingdom and Celestial Paradise, with Jesus, and the other friends and family that are there to welcome her.
I will always remember as much as I can about the blessing that Granmarie was in my life. I hope that the rest of my family and Granmarie’s friends are consoled by the memory of her loving actions and support. I love how Granmarie always spoke of her daughter, my mother Gloria, as her angel and the best daughter anyone could ever have. Granmarie deeply loved her grandparents, parents, siblings, children, nieces and nephews, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She will be greatly missed until our final inseparable reunion.
“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)
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diane Semmling posted a condolence
Monday, February 24, 2014
No saint on earth lives life to self alone./She plants the lushest garden; She sings the sweetest tone./She gives her love and time to those of greatest need./Ev'ry flower is you, Marie-Give us faith to sow your seed.
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Diane Semmling posted a condolence
Monday, February 24, 2014
A Marie story...Stopped by a summer's day to say hello. Marie was out in the near-back garden. She told me while at the grocery store, she saw a woman buying a ground cover plant. "I told her to come to my house, I have tons of that growing" and she invited her over to harvest. This was a perfect stranger to her, and she opened up her home so the lady could save money. That's Marie!
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Anna Emanuel posted a condolence
Monday, February 24, 2014
May these words soothe not only your heart, but your mind, your emotions, and both your physical and spiritual health for “God is near to those that are broken at heart; And those who are crushed in spirit he saves” - Ps. 34:18. You can read or listen to the Bible online at www.jw.org. Sincerely, Anna.
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Frank & Michelle posted a condolence
Friday, February 21, 2014
You are in our thoughts and prayers. So sorry for your loss. Love the Urteils
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