Robert Lee Bradbury was born in 1927. Carl and Winnie his parents and Charles his older brother. They lived on a small farm with cows, chickens and a bull and a pig yearly for meat. Two acres of garden, two acres of orange grove and the rest of ten acres pasture. Robert had a .22 rifle to harvest squirrels and rabbits for food and income. He was always handy with tools and repaired the neighbors bicycles.
At thirteen he had his first car, a Model T, and began working in a garage. The Future Farmers of America was a favorite memory of his high school years.
World War 2 came and he lost his brother in the Battle of the Bulge in France. He joined the Army at the end of war and served in Germany in the Occupation Army becoming a Sergeant working on trucks and jeeps becoming head of a motor pool that was awarded "Best motor pool in the European theater".
He made lots of friends in the community helping them with his good nature and work ethics. He helped local farmers with harvests and control of pig and deer herds as the Germans had lost their guns to the Nazis. The Germans warned him not to let the government take your guns. There he met and married Edith and brought her home to America.
When he got home he started working in garages again briefly having his own shop then working for the local Jeep dealer. While building a home for his family, now three children, he became service manager and head mechanic at Cordells Jeep Sales. The house took him four years of weekends and evenings to build and still stands today.
As always he delt with people honestly and helped those less fortunate every chance he could. He successfully completed the Dale Carnegie course to be a better public speaker. He was active in local politics never afraid to voice his opinion.
The Jeep dealer was sold and later went into bankruptcy and while being run in receivership he gave out his phone number till it closed. He bought some of the garage equipment and opened up shop on his carport. With in weeks by word of mouth he had more work then he could handle. His reputation for honest and fair dealings with the public and his knowledge of Jeeps brought him customers from far and near. He also maintained communication with Jeep factory representatives who occasionally consulted with him. On one occasion he tangled with an engineer over a new overhead cam engine plagued with oil leaks. In a group conversation call he gave the solution that was working for him and told the engineer "He wasn't a good fly on an engineers ass". The engineer got fired.
He enjoyed offshore and local fishing and camping in the Smokeys. He began taking up to three month's vacation a year in the Smokeys getting to know the local farmers and helping other campers with their motor homes. He was able to return to Germany fourteen times to visit family and friends of years ago. He even returned to the motor pool that was still there and shared stories with them and got to drive a military Humvee. Everywhere this man went he gathered a group of friends.
He retired at age 62 because of the introduction of electronics to cars and increasing EPA regulations required training and equipment meant a $50,000 investment that would not be recouped in the time he wanted to work. So he started a garden again and shared what he grew with everyone he knew. He worked hard on the property he grew up on till cancer took his strength. Till his last days he always had a smile or a joke or a story to share. At 94 years old he has gone to see his family above. The world needs more men like him.
At thirteen he had his first car, a Model T, and began working in a garage. The Future Farmers of America was a favorite memory of his high school years.
World War 2 came and he lost his brother in the Battle of the Bulge in France. He joined the Army at the end of war and served in Germany in the Occupation Army becoming a Sergeant working on trucks and jeeps becoming head of a motor pool that was awarded "Best motor pool in the European theater".
He made lots of friends in the community helping them with his good nature and work ethics. He helped local farmers with harvests and control of pig and deer herds as the Germans had lost their guns to the Nazis. The Germans warned him not to let the government take your guns. There he met and married Edith and brought her home to America.
When he got home he started working in garages again briefly having his own shop then working for the local Jeep dealer. While building a home for his family, now three children, he became service manager and head mechanic at Cordells Jeep Sales. The house took him four years of weekends and evenings to build and still stands today.
As always he delt with people honestly and helped those less fortunate every chance he could. He successfully completed the Dale Carnegie course to be a better public speaker. He was active in local politics never afraid to voice his opinion.
The Jeep dealer was sold and later went into bankruptcy and while being run in receivership he gave out his phone number till it closed. He bought some of the garage equipment and opened up shop on his carport. With in weeks by word of mouth he had more work then he could handle. His reputation for honest and fair dealings with the public and his knowledge of Jeeps brought him customers from far and near. He also maintained communication with Jeep factory representatives who occasionally consulted with him. On one occasion he tangled with an engineer over a new overhead cam engine plagued with oil leaks. In a group conversation call he gave the solution that was working for him and told the engineer "He wasn't a good fly on an engineers ass". The engineer got fired.
He enjoyed offshore and local fishing and camping in the Smokeys. He began taking up to three month's vacation a year in the Smokeys getting to know the local farmers and helping other campers with their motor homes. He was able to return to Germany fourteen times to visit family and friends of years ago. He even returned to the motor pool that was still there and shared stories with them and got to drive a military Humvee. Everywhere this man went he gathered a group of friends.
He retired at age 62 because of the introduction of electronics to cars and increasing EPA regulations required training and equipment meant a $50,000 investment that would not be recouped in the time he wanted to work. So he started a garden again and shared what he grew with everyone he knew. He worked hard on the property he grew up on till cancer took his strength. Till his last days he always had a smile or a joke or a story to share. At 94 years old he has gone to see his family above. The world needs more men like him.
Robert Lee Bradbury was born in 1927. Carl and Winnie his parents and Charles his older brother. They lived on a small farm with cows, chickens and a bull and a pig yearly for meat. Two acres of garden, two acres of orange grove and the rest of ten acres pasture. Robert had a .22 rifle to harvest squirrels and rabbits for food and income. He was always handy with tools and repaired the neighbors bicycles.
At thirteen he had his first car, a Model T, and began working in a garage. The Future Farmers of America was a favorite memory of his high school years.
World War 2 came and he lost his brother in the Battle of the Bulge in France. He joined the Army at the end of war and served in Germany in the Occupation Army becoming a Sergeant working on trucks and jeeps becoming head of a motor pool that was awarded "Best motor pool in the European theater".
He made lots of friends in the community helping them with his good nature and work ethics. He helped local farmers with harvests and control of pig and deer herds as the Germans had lost their guns to the Nazis. The Germans warned him not to let the government take your guns. There he met and married Edith and brought her home to America.
When he got home he started working in garages again briefly having his own shop then working for the local Jeep dealer. While building a home for his family, now three children, he became service manager and head mechanic at Cordells Jeep Sales. The house took him four years of weekends and evenings to build and still stands today.
As always he delt with people honestly and helped those less fortunate every chance he could. He successfully completed the Dale Carnegie course to be a better public speaker. He was active in local politics never afraid to voice his opinion.
The Jeep dealer was sold and later went into bankruptcy and while being run in receivership he gave out his phone number till it closed. He bought some of the garage equipment and opened up shop on his carport. With in weeks by word of mouth he had more work then he could handle. His reputation for honest and fair dealings with the public and his knowledge of Jeeps brought him customers from far and near. He also maintained communication with Jeep factory representatives who occasionally consulted with him. On one occasion he tangled with an engineer over a new overhead cam engine plagued with oil leaks. In a group conversation call he gave the solution that was working for him and told the engineer "He wasn't a good fly on an engineers ass". The engineer got fired.
He enjoyed offshore and local fishing and camping in the Smokeys. He began taking up to three month's vacation a year in the Smokeys getting to know the local farmers and helping other campers with their motor homes. He was able to return to Germany fourteen times to visit family and friends of years ago. He even returned to the motor pool that was still there and shared stories with them and got to drive a military Humvee. Everywhere this man went he gathered a group of friends.
He retired at age 62 because of the introduction of electronics to cars and increasing EPA regulations required training and equipment meant a $50,000 investment that would not be recouped in the time he wanted to work. So he started a garden again and shared what he grew with everyone he knew. He worked hard on the property he grew up on till cancer took his strength. Till his last days he always had a smile or a joke or a story to share. At 94 years old he has gone to see his family above. The world needs more men like him.
At thirteen he had his first car, a Model T, and began working in a garage. The Future Farmers of America was a favorite memory of his high school years.
World War 2 came and he lost his brother in the Battle of the Bulge in France. He joined the Army at the end of war and served in Germany in the Occupation Army becoming a Sergeant working on trucks and jeeps becoming head of a motor pool that was awarded "Best motor pool in the European theater".
He made lots of friends in the community helping them with his good nature and work ethics. He helped local farmers with harvests and control of pig and deer herds as the Germans had lost their guns to the Nazis. The Germans warned him not to let the government take your guns. There he met and married Edith and brought her home to America.
When he got home he started working in garages again briefly having his own shop then working for the local Jeep dealer. While building a home for his family, now three children, he became service manager and head mechanic at Cordells Jeep Sales. The house took him four years of weekends and evenings to build and still stands today.
As always he delt with people honestly and helped those less fortunate every chance he could. He successfully completed the Dale Carnegie course to be a better public speaker. He was active in local politics never afraid to voice his opinion.
The Jeep dealer was sold and later went into bankruptcy and while being run in receivership he gave out his phone number till it closed. He bought some of the garage equipment and opened up shop on his carport. With in weeks by word of mouth he had more work then he could handle. His reputation for honest and fair dealings with the public and his knowledge of Jeeps brought him customers from far and near. He also maintained communication with Jeep factory representatives who occasionally consulted with him. On one occasion he tangled with an engineer over a new overhead cam engine plagued with oil leaks. In a group conversation call he gave the solution that was working for him and told the engineer "He wasn't a good fly on an engineers ass". The engineer got fired.
He enjoyed offshore and local fishing and camping in the Smokeys. He began taking up to three month's vacation a year in the Smokeys getting to know the local farmers and helping other campers with their motor homes. He was able to return to Germany fourteen times to visit family and friends of years ago. He even returned to the motor pool that was still there and shared stories with them and got to drive a military Humvee. Everywhere this man went he gathered a group of friends.
He retired at age 62 because of the introduction of electronics to cars and increasing EPA regulations required training and equipment meant a $50,000 investment that would not be recouped in the time he wanted to work. So he started a garden again and shared what he grew with everyone he knew. He worked hard on the property he grew up on till cancer took his strength. Till his last days he always had a smile or a joke or a story to share. At 94 years old he has gone to see his family above. The world needs more men like him.
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