John William Bradley

On Friday, November 21, 2025, John William Bradley made the quick trip from this world to meet his wife, Ann, in their heavenly home.

A funeral service will be held at Second Baptist Church, 1218 Mount Holly Road (Hwy. 901), Rock Hill, SC 29730 on Sunday, November 30, 2025, at 3:00 pm. Visitation will be held at 2:00 pm. The interment will be held at Bush River Memorial Gardens, 5400 Bush River Road, Columbia, SC, 29212 on Monday, December 1, 2025, at 3:00 pm.

He is survived by his eldest son, Gregory (Pamela) Bradley, youngest son, Mark (Maxine) Bradley; five grandchildren, Aaron (Penny) Bradley, Jason (Lacey) Bradley, Brittany (Ethan) Bourn, Lindsay (Austyn) Nickalo, and Erica Bradley (Partner Jeff Nichols); and six great-grandchildren, Zachary Bradley, Joshua Bradley, Benjamin Bradley, Channing Bradley, Everett Nichols, Cooper Bourn; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur Cyrus (Josephine Evangeline Payne) Bradley; sisters, Nancy (Bernard) Darling, Mildred (Bosie) Easton, and Jean (Howard) Beall; two grandchildren, Jenna Lynne Bradley, and Stephen Paul Bradley; and two nieces, Deborah Sherman and Joyce Jobes.

Born on August 30, 1932, he lived a long life full of love. His fondest memories were of working on the farm with Howard Beall and the family. He served in the Air Force as a mechanic on a C-124 during the Korean War. This included working on engines while in flight. For many years, he was a feed salesman for Bowman Brothers and then Carnation. He started a store in Prosperity that didn’t make it. But even in failure, John exemplified strength and integrity. He took a manual labor job in Irmo putting in swimming pools to pay the debt before returning to Carnation. Retiring in the 1990’s, John and Ann moved to Rock Hill to help raise Mark and Mac’s triplet daughters and get back to what he loved the most – farming. Even after losing both legs below the knee, fitted with prosthetics, John still got on his tractor and tended the fields and garden.

John was not the one standing on the street corner shouting the Gospel. Instead, he was a rock of faith that spread the love of Christ through his actions and faithfulness to church and family. He lived the Gospel.

Like Ann, John had a heart to serve the Lord. Together, they served in many churches along the way in a wide variety of roles. John and Ann were among the founding members of the Gaithersburg Church of the Nazarene in the 1950’s. John ran the bus ministry at First Church of the Nazarene in Columbia during the 1970’s. With Ann, he listened to the Awana children at Oakdale Baptist recite their verses and helped them understand the love of Jesus during the 2000’s. John continued his membership at Second Baptist Church after Ann passed and was active until two weeks before his passing.

He always looked forward to Chick-fil-A every Tuesday and grabbing a reuben at Arby’s (had to have the au jus) every Friday for lunch. The folks at Chick-fil-A on Dave Lyle Boulevard and Arby’s on 21 at I-77 will miss him. They always treated him so special. It gave him great joy to help feed little Everett when he began to make the Tuesday and Friday lunch trips with him.

He loved his grandchildren and great grandchildren very much and was so proud of their accomplishments. He was equally loved by them.

Like Ann, he will be sorely missed on this earth but in heaven, his strong bass voice will blend beautifully with Ann’s soprano voice as they sing “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” together again.

“Praise the Lord, Daddy has new legs!”

Whitesell Funeral Home is serving the family.