Francis Bradley, 82 of Brooks, MN passed away peacefully on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, at his residence with his loving family by his side.

The Memorial Service in honor of Francis will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, May 28, 2022 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Brooks, MN with Father Bob Schreiner presiding. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery

Francis Everett Bradley was born May 17, 1940, in Salem, Oregon the son of Noble Douglas and Edith Ernestine (Eulrich) Bradley.

Francis entered service with the United States Army on August 29, 1958, in Portland, Oregon. He enrolled in the US Army Aviation School where he specialized in aircraft maintenance. He completed his career in both active duty and the reserves on August 1, 1962. Decorations earned were Expert (Rifle) and Sharpshooter (Carbine).

Francis loved aviation and eventually owned his own aircraft. He was licensed to fly fixed wing and rotary aircraft. Francis maintained this passion throughout his life and enjoyed attending airshows and talking aviation.

Following his military duty, Francis worked as a truck driver in the logging industry in Oregon. After moving to Alaska, he continued work as a truck driver hauling machinery and supplies over the ice roads into Northern Alaska to Prudhoe Bay and Deadhorse.

Eventually Francis settled on a small farm near Fosston, MN and continued to be a truck driver hauling loads all over the United States.

On September 24, 1999, Francis was united in marriage to Joanne Delage at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Brooks, MN. The couple continued to reside in Brooks. Joanne rode along and together they saw most of the continental United States. Later in his years, Francis enjoyed driving truck locally for local farmers and truckers.

Francis enjoyed seeing things grow from his childhood on the farm, and gardening was his specialty. Francis prided himself on keeping his yard and garden well cared for. Later in life he was able to pursue his passion in earnest and was very generous in sharing his produce with neighbors, friends, and the area food shelf.

Survivors include his loving wife, Joanne (Delage) Bradley; children, Kris (Jimmy), Teresa Bradley; stepchildren, Keith Delage, Bryan (Kristi) Delage, Robin (Wayne) Krebs, Tami Pribula, and Darci (Morgan) Walsh; grandchildren, Justin Gross, Jory Gross, Jeremy Gross, Kacy Gross, Kindra Gross, Kory Woolridge, Reece Bradley, Lynze Bradley; step-grandchildren, Kayla Findlay, Ryan Delage, Jennifer Delage, Zachary Delage, Alyssa Wenger, Lyndsay Krebs, Rhonda Paradis, Kirby Paradis, Anthony Paradis, Christopher Axelson, Noah Walsh, Torin Walsh, and Talia Walsh; and many other relatives and friends.

He is preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Gene Bradley and Dean Bradley; special uncle and aunt, Sam and Ardis Bradley; several cousins; Angel the dog and Tippy the cat.