Hoover, other cities celebrate life of retired fire Chief Tom Bradley

Family and friends of retired longtime Hoover fire Chief Tom Bradley today celebrated his life before laying his body to rest at Jefferson Memorial Gardens, South.

Fire trucks from at least seven fire departments in the Birmingham-Hoover metro area lined up in honor of Bradley at his funeral at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, where he was a loyal and founding member, and a stream of trucks escorted him to the mausoleum on John Hawkins Parkway.

One of his sons, Matthew — a Hoover firefighter, drove the fire engine that carried his casket.

One lane of traffic on John Hawkins Parkway was blocked off as a giant U.S. flag hung from the top of a Hoover aerial ladder truck to greet the beloved firefighter and his family at the entrance to the cemetery and mausoleum.

Bradley was Hoover’s first full-time fire chief and served 32 years as chief before retiring in 2009 at age 80. Before coming to Hoover, he served almost three years with the Bessemer Fire Department, about 22 years with the Birmingham Fire Department and a few years as a fire inspector with the Insurance Company of North America, giving him a total of 60 years of service in the fire industry.

He died Saturday at the age of 92 due to an infection after beating cancer three times, one of his sons, Bill Bradley said.

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato, who served more than 30 years under Bradley’s command in the Hoover Fire Department, at the funeral recalled the first day he met Bradley when he was a 23-year-old firefighter and paramedic and Bradley showed up as the new chief.

It was intimidating because Bradley was so well respected from his days with the Birmingham Fire Department, where he had retired as a captain, Brocato said.

But Bradley took a group of 15 or so youngsters in a fledgling Hoover Fire Department and molded them and others into one of the best-trained, best-equipped and most respected fire departments in the state, Brocato said.

“He trained us. He mentored us, and he disciplined us when we needed that,” Brocato said. “He let us sink or swim. We learned by doing, and if we made a mistake, you heard from him loud and clear, sometimes in a very colorful manner.”

But Bradley more routinely handed out grace rather than condemnation, he said, noting that Bradley had been known as a prankster in the Birmingham Fire Department who sometimes got called before his own chief for his shenanigans.

“He handed out many second chances and even many more last chances,” Brocato said. “He always wanted to give the person the opportunity to redeem himself and become the person he knew that man could be.”

Bradley also understood the importance of serving people and ingrained that in his personnel, teaching them that no task was beneath them, Brocato said. That attitude spread throughout the entire city of Hoover’s workforce, he said.

Bradley, having come from the much larger Birmingham, brought a lot of wisdom and experience to a city that had just been formed nine years earlier, and the various Hoover mayors under which he served often came to him for counsel, Brocato said.

He was sure of himself, but he remained humble and never took credit or sought the limelight, Brocato said.

Father John Fallon of Prince of Peace Catholic Church noted how Bradley went through the ups and downs of life, having both his triumphs and his struggles. He and his first wife lost a child who inhaled a pesticide, and the couple not long after went through a divorce. Bradley went through a dark valley, “but somehow he didn’t stay in that dark valley,” Fallon said. “He got out of that dark valley, and he renewed his life again through a period of, I guess, transformation.”

Bradley married his second wife, Becky, and found new life, new hope and new joy, Fallon said. Bill Bradley said his father struggled to find himself after losing his son, pouring himself into work, having fun and acting crazy as a way of dealing with grief. His second wife, Becky, was a steadying force in his life and helped him gain a fresh start, he said. He saw it as an opportunity to do things right — be a better husband and father, Bill Bradley said.

Tom Bradley and Becky had two children, giving Bradley a total of six children.

Bradley said his father lived life well and had a great positive impact on his family, friends and community.

“He was the best kind of friend, father, employee and boss. He cared about people and wanted to do everything he could to help them in their current situation, but he strived to put them on a successful track themselves and in a position and a mindset that they could help others,” Bill Bradley said.

Fallon described Tom Bradley as a man of principle, wisdom and deep faith who after retiring came to the church every day. He believed God was to be honored, served and loved, Fallon said.

His son, Bill, said his father in his later years spent three hours every day reading Scripture and praying.

Bradley was a man who valued family, cherished friends, believed in hard work and expected things to be done right, Fallon said. He loved the community of Hoover and was a faithful servant, he said.