Wilbur Bradley

Funeral services for Wilbur June (White) Bradley, 90, will be held at the First Baptist Church in Mexia, Texas on Sunday, February 9, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. Rev. Marcus Sheffield, Pastor, will officiate, assisted by Bro. Marc Wilson and Bro. Michael Vestal. Interment will follow in the White family plot in the Dew Cemetery in Dew, Texas. Visitation with the family will be 5-7 p.m., Saturday, at Blair-Stubbs Funeral Home. Wilbur June was born June 22, 1923 in Dew Texas to George Walton White, Jr and Willie Ammah (Harrison) White. She passed away on Tuesday, February 4, 2014, in Waco, Texas. She attended Dew Elementary School and graduated from Teague High School in 1939 at the age of 15. Two years later, she received an Associate Degree from Westminster College in Tehuacana, Texas and entered the work force. In the summers of 1939 and 1940, she attended Stamps-Baxter School of Music in Dallas, Texas – taking piano lessons and learning the technique of playing gospel music. She served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Limestone County Texas Singing Convention for many years. During the 75 years she worked, from 1941 until 2008, Wilbur June had only five different jobs. Her first position was as a clerk in the Freestone County Agricultural Office in Fairfield for four years. She then relocated to Mexia, Texas in 1944 as Assistant Secretary-Treasurer of the National Farm Loan Association. Then, beginning in 1952, she was Bookkeeper for White & Gillespie Drug for 23 years; followed by the position of Controller of IMC Magnetics for seven years; and lastly, as Administrative Assistant for Blair-Stubbs Funeral Home for 26 years – finally retiring at the age of 85. Joining in 1946, Wilbur June was a member of the First Baptist Church in Mexia – 27 years of which she was Church Organist, before retiring in 1991. Since that time, she was interim pianist and organist for several churches. In addition, she continued to accompany a gospel quartet she helped established and dearly loved – The Bradley Quartet. In January 1946, she married Amon M. Cook and to this union was born one son, Derward Glynn Cook. In May 1970, she married Richard F. Bradley and acquired an extended family. She was preceded in death by her parents, Walton and Willie White; her brother, Felix Derward White (who was killed in an auto accident in 1930 at the age of 19); her husband, Richard Bradley in April 1990. She is survived by her son, Derward Glynn Cook and partner, Melvin LeRoy Nokleby of Desert Hot Springs, CA; step-daughters; Marilyn Ashley and husband, Harlan of Nevada, TX and Nancy Bundy and husband, Dennis of Mexia, TX; step-grandchildren, Gwenn Erlinger and husband, Ray of Frisco, TX, Monica Joseph and husband, Jeremy of Argyle, TX and Richard Bundy and wife, Andrea of Mexia, TX; also, special “adopted” granddaughter, Amanda Isgate of League City, TX; and great-granddaughters, Rileigh Marsh and Rachael Erlinger. Pallbearers will be David Isgate, Robby Moody, Benjie Reed, Dr. Tom Fox, Jr., Dr. Stan Sewell, Alden Garber, Rick Sadler and Dave Chilcoat. Blessed with a gift for music, Wilbur June began accompanying vocal groups and soloists on the piano and organ when she was ten years old. For over 80 years, her music filled the hearts of many people in scores of churches, funeral homes, civic centers, nursing homes, schools and other venues. Music is her legacy – the notes have been silenced, but the sound of her music will always live in our memories. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Music Department at First Baptist Church in Mexia, Texas, Dew Memorial Cemetery Fund in Dew, Texas or St. Catherine's Hospice in Waco, Texas