John Bradshaw

John Patrick Bradshaw, 83, passed away peacefully in his sleep Thursday, March 23, 2006, after a brief battle with cancer.

He was born Dec. 3, 1922, to Patrick and Johanna Heffernan Wright Bradshaw in New Brunswick, N.J. Bradshaw attended St. Peters Catholic High School in New Brunswick, Rutgers University, Mount St. Mary's College and The Catholic University of America.

On Dec. 29, 1941, he married Anne Carlisle Rozier of Farmington, Mo. She survives along with his two children. His son, Patrick Carlisle Bradshaw, and wife Mary Beth (Nenninger) reside in Hendersonville, Tenn. They have a daughter, Shannon Elizabeth, and two sons, Kevin Patrick and Jack Edward. His daughter, Mary Alice Bradshaw Essner, and her husband, Jim, live in Cape Girardeau and also have three children: a daughter, Rachel Mary, and two sons, Taylor James and John "Jack" Anthony. Mr. Bradshaw is also survived by nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by two infant sons, Girard Majella and Vincent Ferrar; his parents; two older brothers; and five older sisters.

Bradshaw first worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad as a fireman on a locomotive while attending college. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy on Dec. 14, 1942, and served his country as a sailor aboard a landing boat in the Pacific Theater until his honorable discharge in January of 1946. He returned home and attended Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Md., where he received an A.B. degree. He then went to law school at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he received his LL.B. and his J.D. He served on the Catholic University Law Review and particpated in Moot Court Interscholastic Competition. He was a member of Gamma Eta Gamma legal fraternity. He was then employed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and later entered private practice in Washington, D.C. In 1955, he moved to Cape Girardeau to become the legal adviser for the Missouri Division of Workers' Compensation Office. In 1957, he entered the private practice of law in partnership with Sen. Albert M. Spradling Jr. Bradshaw also served as city attorney for the city of Chaffee from 1967 to 1972. He was an instructor of business law at Southeast Missouri State University from 1968 to 1973. He became a partner in the Finch law firm in 1973. He was a senior partner of Bradshaw, Steele, Cochrane and Berens, remaining at the law firm until his health failed this year.

Bradshaw was previously honored as the senior counselor of the Missouri Bar. He served on the Saint Francis Hospital Board as legal counsel for many years. He was a member of the Missouri Bar (where he served as vice chair, practice and procedure committee), the District of Columbia Bar Association, the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers, the American Trial Lawyers Association, the Defense Research Institute, the American Academy of Hospital Attorneys, the American Health Lawyers Association, the Missouri Society of Hospital Attorneys and the Cape Girardeau County Bar Association (of which he is a past president). He was admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Military Appeals.

Active in his community and churches, Bradshaw was of the Roman Catholic faith and a member of Old St. Vincent's Church in downtown Cape Girardeau. He was also a parishioner of St. Anthony of Padua Church in Grand Rivers, Ky., on Kentucky Lake, where he spent many a weekend over the past 30 years. He was a member of the Saint Francis Medical Center Foundation, The Friends of St. Francis and the St. Francis Auxiliary. He was active in the Jaycees, where he served as national vice president and national director. In the late '60s and early '70s he served on the American Red Cross board as disaster chairman for the city of Cape Girardeau. Bradshaw was a member of the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation, the Copper Dome Society, the SEMO Booster Club, the Missouri Athletic Club, the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, the Cape County Republican Committee (where he served as committeeman), the VFW and the Knights of Columbus Council No. 1111 where he attained third-degree membership. He served on numerous boards and committees in the Cape Girardeau area throughout his life, touching the lives of many. He is remembered for his friendly nature as a true gentleman who always had a smile and warm heart to all he met.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home. Visitation will be today from 4 to 8 p.m. Parish prayers will be at 7 p.m. followed by the Knights of Columbus rosary.

Funeral Mass will be Monday morning, 10 a.m., at the Old St. Vincent's Church. Entombment will follow at the Memorial Park Mausoleum with full military honors and a service conducted by the U.S. Navy and the VFW.

Pallbearers will be Bradshaw's three grandsons, Kevin Bradshaw, Jack Bradshaw and Taylor Essner; close family friends, Clyde Nenninger Jr., John J. Keusenkothen and Craig Billmeyer. Honorary pallbearers will be Richard G. Steele, James A. Cochrane III, Paul H. Berens, Dale E. Gerecke, Matthew M. Mocherman, James E. Laramore, Jeffery L. Spray, Kristi N. Hoff, Sarah E. Snider and Trae C. Bertrand III.

Some of Bradshaw's favorite charitable organizations include the Notre Dame High School Foundation, the Saint Francis Medical Center Foundation and Old St. Vincent's Church. Donations in his memory may be made to any of these organizations or to your own favorite charity.