Walter J. BRADLEY and Claudia Drue (Ball) REEDER

BRADLEY, REEDER, WILLIAMS, THILGES, RUSSELL, KARLAN, FITZGERALD, CRONIN, KELLEY, BALL, IRWIN, MAY, KETCHUM, DUTCHER, KEYSER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 4/6/2007 at 21:35:17

ALGONA - Walter J. Bradley, 86, died Friday (Aug. 8, 2003) in a motor vehicle accident, with his fiancee, Claudia Reeder of Eagle Grove. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Cecelia's Catholic Church in Algona, with Father Cecil Friedmann officiating. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery in Algona. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. today at the Garry-Roberts- Murphy-Schaaf Funeral Home in Algona. There will be a Parish Prayer Service at 7 p.m. and a Knights of Columbus Rosary at 7:30 p.m. today, both at the funeral home.

Walter J. Bradley, son of Jeremiah Bradley and Lucinda Williams was born Sept. 4, 1916, in Clare, Iowa. Walt graduated from Gilmore City Schools. He married Alida Thilges on May 29, 1940, in St. Joseph, Iowa. Walt began his selling career door-to-door with Hoover vacuums. He worked at Sam Klassie Farm Machinery and in 1940, Walt and his brother Joe would buy the business and operate it as Bradley Brothers. In 1982, Walt would join his son Walter at Walt Bradley Auto Sales, actively selling until the time of his death. Walt passionately enjoyed a good round of golf and time with his family and friends. Walt would spend winters with friends at the J5 Trailer Park in Mission, Texas. In the fall, Walt could be found competing in Corn Husking Days. Walt was a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus, chaired the committee to build St. Cecelia Catholic Church and was influential in the building of Garrigan High School.

Walt Bradley is survived by his sons, Tony Bradley and Patty Russell, Humboldt, Walter and Sandra Bradley, Algona; daughters, Therese Karlan, Fort Dodge, and Lucinda and Dr. Tom Fitzgerald, Estes Park, Colo.; 15 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and one brother, Emmett Bradley of Humboldt. He was preceded in death by his wife, Alida (June 2002); daughter, Mary Ann Bradley Cronin; his parents; sister, Francis Kelley; and brothers, Joe Bradley and Garland Bradley. Garry-Roberts-Murphy-Schaaf Funeral Home.

EAGLE GROVE - Claudia Drue Reeder, 78, of 805 Northeast Third Street, Eagle Grove, died Friday (Aug. 8, 2003) in an automobile accident. A memorial service will be held Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at the Eagle Grove Evangelical Lutheran Church, South Second Street and Garfield Avenue, Eagle Grove, with Pastor Susan Stone officiating.

Claudia Drue Reeder was born May 27, 1925, in Dayton, Iowa, the daughter of Guy and Nellie (Irwin) Ball. As a young child, Claudia's family moved to Lehigh, where she graduated from Lehigh High School. Claudia then moved to Fort Dodge where she worked prior to her marriage. She married Roy Reeder on Sept. 5, 1948, at Fort Dodge. They then made their home in Eagle Grove in 1955. Claudia worked for many years at Wilson and Co. and Iowa Testing Laboratories in Eagle Grove. In her later years, Claudia worked at the Senior Citizen's Center in Eagle Grove. She enjoyed spending time with family, friends, and her special friend Walter Bradley.

She is survived by her two sons, John Reeder, of Dows, and James Reeder, of Loveland, Colo.; five grandchildren, Ryan, John, Melissa, Michael, and Christopher Reeder; one sister, Colleen May, Lehigh; one brother, Merlin Ball and his wife, Maxine, La Feria, Texas; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; three sisters, Frances Ketchum, Leona Keyser, and Catherine Dutcher; and three brothers, Raymond, Willard, and Theodore Ball. Garry-Roberts-Murphy-Schaaf Funeral Home.

Mason City Globe Gazette
August 10, 2003