Dublin, Erath and the state of Texas mourn the loss of a lifelong student and educator in Dr. Ronald Bradberry who passed away Monday, Feb. 2 at the age of 89.
Bradberry held a storied career in education, helping to inspire and foster others in the career during his 36-year career at Tarleton. He served as the chair of the Department of Education and Dean of Graduate Studies from 1985-2003. He was named Dean Emeritus when he retired in 2005.
He also served as a member of the Stephenville ISD school board for 18 years (10 as president), area representative for the Texas Association of School Boards for 10 years and served on the TASB Risk Management Committee and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Accreditation Board. Locally, he served as a member and president of the Lions Club, member and president of Foster’s Home for Children and as a founding member of the St. Stephen Orthodox Church in Stephenville.
Bradberry was especially dedicated to this last role as a dedicated member of St. Peter Orthodox Church in Fort Worth, which he attended weekly for many years.
Just a month before his passing on Dec. 27, Ron was on hand to witness the blessing of the future site of the church.
Ron told Annette (his wife of 57 years): ‘At last after 30 years of praying, I got to see where the Church will be.’
Bradberry was a proud 6th generation Texan and native of Gorman and Dublin who painted his youth in Dublin ‘like a Norman Rockwell painting’ according to Annette and their children, Martha, Bart and Ben.
His father, Charlie Ben Bradberry, was deeply involved with Everett Colborn in the Dublin rodeo which assisted in the Bradberry family business shifting focus from shipping to feed. His children reported he was an inquisitive child who spoke fondly of learning Morse Code from the local telegraph operator and helped out in the family business with stories of sleeping under the feed truck as a child and driving product to Waco after school at the age of 14.
After graduating DHS in 1956, he attended Tarleton (a two-year college where he was active in the band and a friend of Tarleton legend Barry Thompson. Annette said Thompson often told the story of a resolute Ron leading in a parade when part of his baton flew off and he kept marching forward as if nothing happened. Following Tarleton, he got his degree from Abilene Christian University before returning to Dublin to teach Biology for two years.
Bradberry often recalled the lecture he received as a chaperone of the senior class trip to New Orleans since it was his job to inform the boys of things they shouldn’t do in the city. He reportedly wasn’t entirely successful.
He earned his Masters of Education from University of North Texas and pursued his Doctorate in Education at North Texas, moving to Natchitoches, Louisiana. It was there that he met Annette Jordan, the love of his life.
Annette remembered an acquaintance had been trying to get them to meet for months and finally succeeded the day before both were traveling home for Christmas break.
“It just struck me immediately,” Annette said of meeting her future husband, saying she was incapable of saying anything, except repeating what he said to her. They still went back to their families but agreed to date the next semester. “He went home talking about Ms. Jordan and I went home talking about Mr. Bradberry.”
They married in 1968 and Ronald went to work at Tarleton in 1969. His family said two of his proudest moments while there was establishing a phone line for registration in the years before online registration and his involvement in the TMATE program, which allows teachers to work as they get their certification.
Annette said he was deeply passionate about public education and his nephew Charlie Bradberry said Ronald encouraged him strongly to serve in the Dublin ISD School Board.
Charlie realized his uncle’s legacy when he went to the state school convention and kept getting the same question from those that saw his town and last name: “Do you know Dr. Bradberry?”
As a teacher and a man, he was known for his story telling and patience, two qualities that his children said they saw in him as a father. Martha recalled conversations and strong guidance about her career path while Bart and Ben recalled the ‘tailgate talks’ at the back of their truck while he dealt fatherly advice.
Martha followed in her father’s footsteps and said she realized that the ability to be a good teacher is a gift. Generations saw this in Dr. Ronald Bradberry and are carrying his passion for education forward to the next.