Dorothy W. "Memaw" Bradley
June 9, 1914 ~ March 5, 2020
Dorothy Wells Bradley
June 9, 1914-March 5, 2020
Dorothy Bradley’s life was one of extraordinary love for others. She was born and raised in DC with her three sisters, Thelma, Catherine, and Ellen, under the watchful eyes of their fireman father, George Washington Wells, and Irish mother, Catherine Mangan. He’d say to his giggling daughters, “Eat your dinner first and laugh afterwards.” They attended St. Dominic’s parish, and later moved to a row house on Trinidad Avenue. Dorothy was working for the Airline Pilots Association when she met her husband, Charles Francis Bradley, an MP in the Marines, who went on to become motorcycle policeman in the District. Fran and Dottie wed in 1939 at Holy Name church and bought a starter home in Bethesda, MD. At the outbreak of WWII, they moved to the Great Lakes so that Fran could train with the Coast Guard. They had their only child, Mary Frances Bradley (Costello), on Christmas Eve in 1942. Mary Frances was just a few months old when Fran deployed for war, serving as a Gunner’s Mate First Class aboard a destroyer escort named for an Ensign who died at Pearl Harbor, the USS Leopold. Fran never returned home to sit in front of the fire, as he song longed for in his letters to Dottie. He was lost at sea after an attack by a German U-boat in the icy waters of the North Atlantic on March 9, 1944. Dorothy returned with Mary to the Bethesda house on North Chelsea Lane. Dorothy was active in Our Lady of Lourdes parish and she loved being near her sisters and their families. Her favorite stories were about the “Wells Girls” and their times at the family cottage in Colton’s Point. Dottie worked as a secretary at the National Institutes of Health for Dr. Julius Axelrod, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in medicine. Upon retirement, she was a Red Cross volunteer at the Naval Hospital. She was a world traveler and frequent visitor to see Mary and her husband, Lt Col(ret) Walter Costello, at various military bases. She doted on her grandchildren, Joe (Carlee) Costello and Jeanne Costello, and her six great grandchildren, Brad, Jack, and Kate Costello and Colin, Patrick, and Anna Davis. She told exciting and funny bedtime stories and she sang old-time songs like “Baby face” and “I’m forever blowing bubbles.” She reserved the Irving Berlin song, “Always,” for her Fran. She loved Emily Dickinson poetry and had a deep love for America. She was a frequent oral history guest for students at Rocky Run Middle School. She loved all people. After her daughter Mary passed away in 2013, Memaw did something she never thought she would do – move to Virginia. Memaw taught everyone her favorite mottos, “God is a great equalizer” and “When one door closes, another one opens.” Holding Jeanne’s hand, Dorothy passed away peacefully at the age of 105 in Oakton. Dorothy will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, August 17th with full military honors for her husband Fran. Our family is grateful for the efforts of Janene Corrado at the US Dept of Homeland Security and Brian Behlke of the US Coast Guard for this honor. Thank you for considering a donation in our grandparents’ memory to buildkibeho.org for the construction of The Basilica for the Reunion of the Dispersed the Seven Sorrows chapel in Rwanda.
June 9, 1914-March 5, 2020
Dorothy Bradley’s life was one of extraordinary love for others. She was born and raised in DC with her three sisters, Thelma, Catherine, and Ellen, under the watchful eyes of their fireman father, George Washington Wells, and Irish mother, Catherine Mangan. He’d say to his giggling daughters, “Eat your dinner first and laugh afterwards.” They attended St. Dominic’s parish, and later moved to a row house on Trinidad Avenue. Dorothy was working for the Airline Pilots Association when she met her husband, Charles Francis Bradley, an MP in the Marines, who went on to become motorcycle policeman in the District. Fran and Dottie wed in 1939 at Holy Name church and bought a starter home in Bethesda, MD. At the outbreak of WWII, they moved to the Great Lakes so that Fran could train with the Coast Guard. They had their only child, Mary Frances Bradley (Costello), on Christmas Eve in 1942. Mary Frances was just a few months old when Fran deployed for war, serving as a Gunner’s Mate First Class aboard a destroyer escort named for an Ensign who died at Pearl Harbor, the USS Leopold. Fran never returned home to sit in front of the fire, as he song longed for in his letters to Dottie. He was lost at sea after an attack by a German U-boat in the icy waters of the North Atlantic on March 9, 1944. Dorothy returned with Mary to the Bethesda house on North Chelsea Lane. Dorothy was active in Our Lady of Lourdes parish and she loved being near her sisters and their families. Her favorite stories were about the “Wells Girls” and their times at the family cottage in Colton’s Point. Dottie worked as a secretary at the National Institutes of Health for Dr. Julius Axelrod, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in medicine. Upon retirement, she was a Red Cross volunteer at the Naval Hospital. She was a world traveler and frequent visitor to see Mary and her husband, Lt Col(ret) Walter Costello, at various military bases. She doted on her grandchildren, Joe (Carlee) Costello and Jeanne Costello, and her six great grandchildren, Brad, Jack, and Kate Costello and Colin, Patrick, and Anna Davis. She told exciting and funny bedtime stories and she sang old-time songs like “Baby face” and “I’m forever blowing bubbles.” She reserved the Irving Berlin song, “Always,” for her Fran. She loved Emily Dickinson poetry and had a deep love for America. She was a frequent oral history guest for students at Rocky Run Middle School. She loved all people. After her daughter Mary passed away in 2013, Memaw did something she never thought she would do – move to Virginia. Memaw taught everyone her favorite mottos, “God is a great equalizer” and “When one door closes, another one opens.” Holding Jeanne’s hand, Dorothy passed away peacefully at the age of 105 in Oakton. Dorothy will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, August 17th with full military honors for her husband Fran. Our family is grateful for the efforts of Janene Corrado at the US Dept of Homeland Security and Brian Behlke of the US Coast Guard for this honor. Thank you for considering a donation in our grandparents’ memory to buildkibeho.org for the construction of The Basilica for the Reunion of the Dispersed the Seven Sorrows chapel in Rwanda.
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