Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 17, 1995 TAG: 9506200037
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: VIRGINIA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The would-be major league baseball player, who instead dedicated almost 40 years to the Virginia State Police, died Thursday at his Roanoke County home. He was 62.
He had retired May 1 as special agent in charge of the criminal investigations bureau at the Salem state police barracks.
Colleagues say Bradley wasn't just a tough cop. He was a thinking one. He got along with almost everyone, and he could gain people's confidence. That was an asset in many successful investigations, said his longtime friend and supervisor, Billy Allsbrook.
"Lee was unpretentious." Allsbrook said. "He didn't try to impress you. What you saw is what you got. That's what won him so many friends and so much respect. He was a sincere, genuine individual."
When the former smoker discovered that cancer had attacked his lungs, he consoled his family rather than himself.
"He approached it as, 'I have to play the cards I've been given,''' said his son, Mark Bradley. "He looked at it as one more case to solve, one more hurdle to get through. He led a good life. He was not afraid to die."
Bradley never shied away from responsibility. When Hurricane Camille ravaged Nelson County in 1969, Bradley was on the road as a supervisor trying to aid a tractor-trailer and its driver on a flooded roadway.
"But the road and truck perished," along with the driver, said Mark Bradley.
"He always used to say he had a special guardian angel that watched over him."
Bradley was a rural Rockbridge County boy with a talent for pitching when the Washington Senators picked him for a trial run during the 1950s.
"He had a helluva curve ball," Mark Bradley said, but was a little too small.
So the 5-foot 10-inch, 160-pound Bradley tried his hand at the state police. Still a bit too puny, Bradley took to eating lots of bananas and milkshakes to make the cut.
He toured the state throughout his career.
"He was very easy to get along with, quick-minded," said Houston McNeal, who worked with Bradley for almost 20 years. "He was a real good police officer. ... He was very thorough. He didn't jump to conclusions. He used real good judgment and communicated with people."
Bradley and McNeal retired the same day.
"We both hated to leave," McNeal said. "Recently, we talked about this; if we had to live our lives over, we'd do the same thing."
At his retirement dinner, Bradley recounted the words of his hero Lou Gehrig, the tall, quiet man who played for the Yankees and faced a crippling, fatal disease.
"He said that he never knew what Lou Gehrig meant until now," said Mark Bradley. "Gehrig died very young. But, like dad, he led a good life, had a good family and loved his job. ... My dad had damn few regrets."
by CNB