Cover photo for Walter D. Bradley's Obituary
Walter D. Bradley Profile Photo

Walter D. Bradley

September 27, 1912 — January 18, 2005

BRADLEY, WALTER Walter D. Bradley, 92 of Waco, died Tuesday, January 18, 2005 under the loving care of Providence Hospice. A memorial service will be held at 3pm today, January 20 at Lakewood Christian Church with the Rev. Jack Mullins and Monsignor Mark Deering officiating. A private family burial at Oakwood Cemetery preceded the memorial service. Walter D. “Bunk” Bradley was born in Waco on September 27, 1912, the only child of Walter A. Bradley and Lilly Dumas Bradley. Graduating from Waco High School in 1931, Walter entered Baylor University where he graduated in 1935 with a BBA degree. He also earned his C.L.U. Degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Bunk was a four year letterman in both tennis and basketball while at Baylor, as well as captain of both teams his freshman and senior years. In 1999 he was inducted into the Baylor Sports Hall of Fame at a ceremony with his entire family in attendance. Walter married Jean Waddell of Waco on September 18, 1937. After their marriage Jean and Walter moved to Houston where he accepted the position of Assistant Agency Manager of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York. While in Houston, Jean and Walter gave birth to their first child, Barry. In 1945, they moved back to Waco where Walter was the District Manager of Equitable, and their second child Patricia was born. In 1947, they returned to Houston where Walter was District Manager for the Houston Agency of Equitable, and their third child Kay was born. In 1952 Walter was named “Manager of the Year” for Equitable, and was honored at a banquet at the home office in New York. That same year, he was promoted to Equitable Agency Manager in Houston, where he served in that position until his retirement in 1960. Jean and Walter returned to Waco in 1965 where they built their home of 37 years in Woodway. Bunk became active in both the Baylor and Waco communities, where he served as a board member and officer of the Baylor Alumnae Association, a board member of the Hankamer School of Business, past President of the Baylor Letterman’s Association where he was Executive Director for 34 years, and later was named Executive Director Emeritus, a position he held until his death. In addition, he served on the board of Woodland Springs Nursing Center, the Regis-St. Elizabeth Nursing Center, Lakewood Christian Church, and Texas Sports Museum and Hall of Fame. Walter is survived by Jean, his wife of 67 years; daughters, Patricia Sebastian and husband, Jim of Houston and Kay Jones and husband, David of Colorado; son, Barry Bradley of Houston; grandchildren, Lori Sebastian, Brad Sebastian both of Houston, Jaclyn Jones Shaklee and husband, Gary and Jennifer Jones Gebetsberger and husband, Greg all of Colorado; and nieces, Ann Werme and Sheryl Kenny and their families all of Houston. Honorary pallbearers are Robin Bennett, Champe Fitzhugh, John Goble, Lee Harrington, Chuck Herty, Jack Jeffrey, Kenneth Jones, David Lacy, Gary Luft, Dutch Schraeder, Thad Sharp, JoAlan Spears, Dick Taylor, and Ralph White. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Baylor Letterman’s Association, One Bear Place #97150, Waco, TX 76798 or Providence Hospice, 4830 Lakewood, Suite 5, Waco, TX 76710. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Memorial Guestbook” at www.wilkirsonhatchbailey.com. WILKIRSON-HATCH-BAILEY

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Walter D. Bradley, please visit our flower store.

Service Schedule

Past Services

Photo Gallery

Guestbook

Visits: 1

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors