Raymond Henry Rev. Bradley, Jr.

Raymond H. Bradley Jr. was born on July 25, 1929 to Raymond Henry Bradley Sr. and Alice Antoinette (Divine) Bradley in Hartford Connecticut. He was raised and grew up in Coventry Connecticut with his four brothers Lewis, Albert, Charles, and Glenn. Ray was sometimes referred to as a “soft spoken man with strong Views”. He once said that his views were shaped in part by his boyhood experiences when he, his brothers and parents attended an American Baptist Church. The local Pastor there “always preached that the church had a responsibility to minister to the people of their community”. In his youth Raymond spent two years in the Army teaching cooking at Fort Dix, NJ, an experience, which started his lifelong passion for cooking large amounts of food for what seems like masses of people. He then went on to study at Bangor Theological Seminary in Maine and was ordained in July of 1958. It was at his first job as a pastor, of The West Bethel Congregational Church in Maine, that he put an ad in the local newspaper to hire a Vacation Bible School teacher. The first applicant was a young Methodist girl, Virginia Sally Brown, who not only got the job but was to spend the next 56 years married to him. Their ministry went on to include churches in Rangeley and Phillips Maine, Andover Connecticut, and The Riverside Congregational Church in Rhode Island. Of his lengthy career Raymond was most proud of his accomplishments as an activist for human rights. He’d served on local, state and national committees to promote and advocate for rights of all in the field of mental health, racial equality, civil rights and LGBT concerns. Upon his retirement in 1997 Reverend Bradley continued his ministry as the interim minister for Park Place Church UCC, Pawtucket RI, Barrington Congregational Church, Barrington RI, Woodridge Congregational Church, Cranston RI, The United Congregational Church of Westerly, Pawcatuck CT, and The First Congregational Church of Warwick, Oakland Beach RI. He also continued to officiate weddings and funerals, as well as preach substitute sermons for his long time colleagues when needed. In fact it was on his way home from one of these substitute sermons, on August 10, 2014, that the car accident occurred eventually leading to his death on August 29, 2014. One other part of Raymond and Sally’s ministry that will most certainly be remembered by so many is their annual 4th of July, and Chinese New Year parties to which all were welcome, no one was ever turned away, and absolutely no one left hungry. This sense of bringing the community together through food and fellowship was further extended in this last year by their involvement with “The Peace Dale Dinner Table”, a weekly event where anyone can come to the Peace Dale Congregational Church, every Wednesday and pay what you can, for a wonderful meal and a sense of community. Along with his wife V. Sally Bradley, he is survived by his two sons, Raymond H. Bradley III of Charlestown RI, and Richard H. Bradley of Providence RI; two grandchildren, Raymond Henry Bradley IV of Warwick RI, and Erica Fitzgerald of Knoxville TN; two great-grandchildren, Jaylen Bradley Fitzgerald, and Raymond Henry Bradley V; and four brothers and their wives, Lewis and Marion Bradley, Albert and Julie Bradley, Charles and Betty Bradley, Glenn and Ann Bradley. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to any of the churches where Reverend Bradley had served or to the “Peace Dale Dinner Table”, C/O The Peace Dale Congregational Church, 261 Columbia St., Peace Dale RI 02879.