About Brad...

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Bradford John Anderson (December 11, 1952-July 4, 2021), proud Northwesterner, born and raised in Portland, Oregon (Wilson High School class of 1971). Descendent of Hood River homesteaders and immigrants from Sweden and Austria, he moved south for college at Pomona (class of 1975) then east for law school (George Washington 1978) and early work with Hon. Oliver Gasch (law clerk 1978-1979) and Shearman & Sterling (associate attorney 1979-1985). Swept his wife, Brigid, off her feet at a litigation department dinner. He was a great dancer, a snappy dresser, and the nicest guy she ever met. They married in 1983 in NYC then moved to Seattle where he practiced corporate reorganization law for many years (at Stoel Rives, Riddell Williams, and Betts Patterson & Mines). He argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1994. A completely equal parent to Conor (1988), Lily (1991) and Owen (1995), he took his own three-month parental leaves and always did more than his share of cooking, dishes, yardwork, laundry, and shopping. He loved being at home, cooking and entertaining. A hard worker but not a workaholic, he liked to put his feet up at the end of the day. Politically liberal, he was a conscientious objector in the last days of the Vietnam war. He was also IBM (Irish By Marriage) coming to love Irish music and history. He left law practice in 2008 to join AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) as executive director of the Northwest local, a role he relished. He loved to travel and visited Greece, Mexico, Ireland, Egypt, Austria, South Africa, Italy, Australia, France, China and central Asia, among others. Retiring in 2016 to live in Rome for a year, he and Brigid stayed for three. In 2020, back in Seattle and grounded by the pandemic, he was diagnosed with terminal bile duct cancer. After chemotherapy at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, he and Brigid went back to Rome where he saw Owen get married and where, after a long pandemic separation, he also reunited with Conor and Lily and their partners. Only for a short time. Brad died in Rome on July 4, 2021, from cancer complications. He enjoyed every day of life but also accepted his fate and was humble to the end. Love doesn’t die, people do. All that is left of him now is love.

 

In addition to his wife and children, Brad is survived by his loving siblings, Wendy Anderson (Todd), Curtis Love, Laurie Shannon (Matt), and Nick Springer, and several nieces and nephews. We miss you.

 

In lieu of flowers or gifts, please consider a donation in Brad's memory to The Food Bank at St. Mary's