Wilfred Brady "Ira"
Wilfred Brady, born July 6, 1927, is the second child to Mary Ledwell and Chancey Brady. My dad would tell us about walking 7 miles to school from his home place as a child in the worst weather conditions. He attended the Piney Ridge Community School in a one-room schoolhouse for 1st to 6th grade. There he met his wife, Elizabeth Cassidy and married her in 1950. My dad purchased his childhood school house and renovated into his life long home, having raised four children, Evelyn, Ira, Pandora and Patrick there. My dad adored his children and could be heard boasting of every accomplishment we all made. He had the patience of Job and taught us how to drive; for me, I can remember driving at ten years old our '52 Ford straight shift and even our tractor.
During the early years of segregation, my dad worked for Dr. & Mrs. Jordan, who was an affluent dentist from Cedar Falls. He performed all labor needed for that family, inside and outside making as little as $1.25 an hour, working more than 8 hrs. a day often. In the mid-'60s, work opportunities for Blacks improved and Georgia Pacific Corporation opened its doors for employment to Blacks. My dad applied and was met with much opposition when the Jordan family discovered it and made fierce effort to thwart his employment, fortunately, it was unsuccessful, and he was hired and completed his work history there until retirement. The work was hard, but he persevered and beamed with pride of getting a job with benefits for the first time in his life.
Although my dad was a staunched Ford brand kind of man, he purchased a brand new 1968 Volkswagen, of which I took the reins of driving at the age of 16. He would come in from the 3rd shift, and I would leave for school. This was another proud moment for him..., to be able to afford to make this purchase.
His life experiences made him skillful as a barber, a carpenter and a mechanic of which he serviced many in these capacities. In his last years, he devoted his service to his church; no need ever went unmet as he maintained the upkeep of the church. He always looked forward to fellowshipping with the people. The examples he set could be found in the "helps" ministry gift (1Co. 12:28). My dad could often be heard reciting Ps. 90:10 that man's years of life were 'threescore and ten.' Even though Moses wrote this Psalm to explain that the generation in the wilderness who would die out before entering the promised land would have a shorter life span..., he wasn't hearing it. I was never able to help him understand Ps.91:16 "With long life I'll satisfy you...," So just two months after his 70th birthday, after some complications with lung surgery and a blood clot, in a unconscious state of mind he transitioned and squeezed my hand for the last time as if to say, "I met my 70" year on this side of life and its time that I move on".
My only regret is that I wished I had withdrawn more information about our family history because I know he took with him more than I used the opportunity to extract. May generations following us copiously receive all there is available to know about their family history!
Written by Evelyn Cheek, his oldest child
