Home Page

Tom  BRADLEY

 

 Thomas John Bradley nacque nel 1936 a Plymouth una città della Cornovaglia inglese.

 Dopo aver studiato al Boniface College, Tom si laureò in fisica alla Università di Exter dove incontrò Bery, la sua prima moglie che purtroppo morì di cancro solo due anni dopo il matrimonio.

 Dopo aver lavorato come fisico in un azienda che poi fallì, fu coinvolto nella gestione di un negozio di giornali che ebbe un grande sviluppo e di cui divenne unico proprietario.

 Sposata Sheila in seconde nozze, ebbe due figli e diventò una delle figure di spicco del bridge inglese, ricoprendo, assieme a numerose altre, anche la carica di Presidente EBU per un paio di anni.

 Tom si impegnò enormemente nella promozione del bridge giovanile e fu uno degli artefici del successo dei Campionati Mondiali Juniores del 1989 che si svolsero a Nottingham.

Giocatore di discreto livello e figura carismatica del bridge del Sussex, vinse alcuni tornei regionali ma sopravvisse alla scomparsa di Sheila avvenuta nel 2004 solo pochi mesi, venendo a mancare il 27 maggio del 2005. 

Tom was born in Cornwall to Phyllis and Francis Bradley in 1936. Phyllis incidentally was the first lady to work for Barclays Bank, and he had twin sisters Mary and Gillian, Gillian dying at 17 years of age. As a youngster he enjoyed gardening and at 9 years of age he went to Boniface College, Plymouth. At school he was leader of the Orchestra and played violin, that violin being passed to his daughter Joan. Following a State Scholarship Tom read Physics at Exeter University where he was Social Secretary to the Student’s Union. He met his first wife Beryl at University who sadly died of cancer after two years of married life. Tom joined GEC at Stanmore where he was involved with Nuclear Physics and then worked at Electronics Associated Corp in Burgess Hill, managed its closure and his own redundancy. 

Tom together with Dennis Crouch and Vera Hammond became involved in a small Newspaper shop. Tom made a successful business of this,  Bradleys, and became the sole owner. Bradleys prospered and Tom acknowledged that he worked with a splendid staff headed by Linda who coped with many bridge assignments over the phone as well as keeping a well ordered business. Tom met his second wife Sheila at dancing. Sheila was a trained teacher and continued her interest throughout her married life, Sheila dying in 2004. They are survived by son and daughter Julian and Joan, and grandchildren Hannah, Ben, Daniel and Rebecca. The support of the staff at Bradley’s enabled Tom, after Sheila’s death to find time for some gardening again and time to be with his  grandchildren which gave him great joy.

Tom was a major figure in the bridge world: President of the British Bridge League 1997- 98, Treasurer of the EBU for much of the last 20 years and Member of the EBU Board of Directors. On the occasions when the Home International events were held in Sussex Tom Bradley was in the thick of the administration ensuring that all was done properly. At the 2002 Lady Milne (Ladies Home International) he was also the Match Manager.

He was heavily involved with encouraging the young: Chairman of the EBU Youth Committee, Treasurer of the Educational Trust for British Bridge, Organiser of the World Junior Championships in Nottingham 1989 and the Junior World Championships in Torquay 2003. Within Sussex he was SCCBA President for 3 years and SCCBA Chairman for 27 years. He brought together a County previously split by disagreement between East and West. Martin Pool, the present Sussex Chairman, has described Tom as well-respected, a role model and a father figure. Tom was involved in the creation of the West Sussex Bridge Club, with Dennis Crouch. Their excellent premises were opened by Sandra Landy. Tom also taught bridge and many of his  pupils have enjoyed much success. Despite all his administrative work Tom continued to play winning bridge. Last year he won the County Men’s Pairs with Harold Birch, the Mixed pairs with May Langmaid and the Autumn Congress Pairs with Roger Poulter. 

He enjoyed Bridge Congresses like Henfield that provided excellent hospitality with a surfeit of good food, as he considered that bridge should be an enjoyable experience. He was impressed in Ireland where no directors, alert cards or stop cards were evident.

Tom was a reliable team member and would not let one down even when in pain after damaging himself falling over or when tired after 5 a.m. starts at work. A super team mate. 

Your writer enjoyed playing with him but half a dozen times – no system, when in doubt it’s forcing. Tom was concerned about the spirit in the game. A good spirit would encourage more to become Club players and take part in an enjoyable experience. We should be positive, youthful friendly and enjoy the bridge experience.

  Indice / Index

Precedente / Previous

Successivo / Next