James Edward Bradley

James Edward Bradley, 97 of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, passed away peacefully on February 11, 2013 in Walnut Place, a nursing facility in Dallas, Texas where he had resided since September 2012 after suffering a stroke. Services for James Edward Bradley will be held Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 10:30 am at the Rendleman & Hileman Funeral Home, 301 West Spring Street, Anna, Illinois, with the Rev. Sammy White officiating. Burial will follow at the Casper Cemetery in Anna. Visitation is scheduled for Friday evening at the Rendleman & Hileman Funeral Home from 6 until 8:00 pm. If desired, memorials may be made to the Cleveland Clinic and envelopes will be available at the funeral home. Mr. Bradley was born in Cobden, Illinois on March 8, 1915, the seventh out of twelve children. He was called "Jim" by everyone who knew him, but family called him "Ed". He was very industrious and enterprising at an early age, buying his first car (a viking convertible) at the age of fourteen from proceeds earned working after school at neighboring farms. At the age of eighteen he became an assistant manager at the A & P grocery store in Anna, Illinois, and soon thereafter, he began his retail career as a salesman with Montgomery Ward in Cape Girardeau where his potential for aggressive leadership caught the eye of his manager. He was soon relocated and promoted to assistant manager in Blythville, AR where he continued to hone his skills and broaden his understanding of retail sales. In 1929 at the age of twenty-five, he was offered an opportunity for further advancement at Sears, Roebuck & Company in the Chicago area where his career success progressed to a national level with Sears that spanned more than thirty-six years, during which time he held positions of assistant national sales manager for the entire tire division, then as national retail sales manager over which he managed several hundred employees and held divisional meetings throughout the United States. He won national recognition for top sales in his department and was considered one of the brightest innovators of marketing technology among the Sears executives and was largely responsible for introducing Michelin tires into the U.S. marketplace. Even when he was getting ready to retire, Sears talked him into taking over a failing department, he did and ultimately within two years he brought the department into a profit making division. He retired from Sears in 1975, after a thirty-six year career. Ed married his childhood sweetheart "Sallie Treece" on August 6, 1941 when they were twenty-six and twenty-four years of age. He was transferred to Elmhurst, Illinois and Sallie quit her job as secretary to the superintendent of schools and started a lifetime career of volunteering at the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital and the Lutheran Church where they were actively involved members. Later they purchased a home in Glen Ellyn, Illinois where they lived for forty-six years. During retirement, Ed discovered a talent that had been dormant until that time. He painted in the basement of his home where he created many lovely paintings that are still enjoyed today. In 2003, Ed and Sallie moved to a lovely Lutheran retirement community in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. They enjoyed the retirement community and bowling in a league. They celebrated 70 years of marriage in August 2011 before Sallie went home to be with the Lord at the end of that month. Ed, soon thereafter, relocated to an assisted living arrangement in Dallas, Texas where he flourished. He enjoyed his spacious apartment, the lovely courtyard and dining room. He still enjoyed bowling every weekend and maintained a score of 120. He also enjoyed the last year of his life visiting the Dallas and Fort Worth Zoos, Dallas Arboretum, Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and feeding the ducks at a nearby park. In September of 2012, Ed suffered a debilitating stroke which robbed him of his ability to walk. He then moved to a nursing facility in Dallas, Texas. Still he did not lose his love of life and remained courageous in his battle with kidney failure and heart failure. He won the heart of everyone who cared for him at the facilities in which he resided with his good looks, charm, talent and dry wit. Ed was a blessing to all who knew and loved him. He sat an example for all to only hope to emulate, a life well lived with a kind and gentle spirit and a "twinkle in his eye" who blessed others with his talents and gifts. He brought so much joy to all those lucky enough to have known him. We shall miss our "Uncle Ed". He is survived by loving family members including a sister, Juanita Aldridge; sisters-in-law, Glenda (widow of Luke), Johnetta Bradley (widow of Collin); many nieces, nephews and friends.