August 8, 1898 - April 18, 1970 (71)

​

William Bradley was a young banker and civil servant who went on to success later in life, after dealing with the fallout from his father’s collapsed business empire during the Great Depression.

​

Younger than his sister Bettina, William was a student at Centerville High School when his family moved into their new home on the “Gold Coast” as Drake Avenue was called at the time. He was an active and successful student. As a Boy Scout, William played football and basketball, acted in the school plays, played in the orchestra and edited the high school yearbook. His classmates named William ‘most likely to become President of the United States.’

​

That prediction was not to be, however. William spent many of his early adult years trying to salvage his father’s many failing enterprises. This thankless task left some considering him, “a reckless plunger and speculator in business,” although others recognized that greater global economic forces meant, “Bill didn’t have a chance.”

​

William Bradley did ultimately work for the US Government, captaining the Centerville National Guard after World War I, and worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Federal Housing Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce. William and his wife had two children, naming one girl Betty, likely after his deceased older sister Bettina. After inheriting the Bradley mansion in 1937, he sold it to his cousins. William moved with his family to Texas, where he would live out the rest of his life.