Mary Jane Bradley was born Mary Jane During to Albert H. During and Fray L. During of Edna, KS, on June 8, 1926.  She moved early in her childhood to Meade, KS. This is the town she called home. She loved Western Kansas and always lovingly referred to the "canyons" and "mountains" on the prairie. She graduated from high school as valedictorian and went on to the   University of Kansas in 1944. She finished the 5-year B.S. program in nursing.

It was while in Lawrence, KS at KU that she met H. Keith Bradley. They fell in love and married on May 20, 1949, when she finished nursing school. Since his degree was in education, they settled in Salina, KS where he taught school, and she worked at the hospital as an R.N.  After several years they moved to Kansas City, so Keith could take a job at Hallmark Cards, and she chose to be a stay-at-home mother. She had four children over a period of 13 years. The births were punctuated by a six month hospitalization with tuberculosis while she had two small boys to raise. This was a definite low point for her. She recovered to have two more daughters. She was always there for her kids and would have cookies and milk ready to listen to everyday adventures as they returned home from school.  She raised her family in Lenexa, KS and stayed at home to be "Mom" until the youngest was in school.

At that time, she re-activated her nursing license and went to work as a school nurse at Trailridge Jr. High.  After many happy years tending to junior high kids, she went to work for a prominent endocrinologist at St. Luke's Hospital.  She loved the challenges of the practice and always wanted to know more and read up on everything she heard and saw in the office.

As a young girl she had become quite an accomplished pianist and accompanist, so she also taught piano at home and directed the church youth and adult choirs over the years in the Lenexa United Methodist Church. Always there to be a Cub Scout leader, Girl Scout leader, or youth group sponsor, she was the consummate attentive car-pooling mother. She would always proofread a paper but never do your homework for you. She would always be a room mother or adult driver or anything that was needed to make her children's lives easier and richer…never complaining about being the chosen home host for school group parties or functions.

No one was more organized or prepared for any unforeseen event. She also would knit beautiful sweaters for everyone in the family, and could not sit still without keeping her hands busy. Her adult life was interrupted with many serious bouts with cancer requiring multiple radical surgeries.  She survived them all with much effort and perseverance, and early detection. She never let them stop her for long and always had a positive outlook on life. We, her children, hear numerous stories of people who received multiple notes of encouragement, thanks, or just well wishes during their life's troubles from our mother. She was always focused on trying to help anyone who needed it…….even just a few words of encouragement and a prayer.

After 67 years of marriage, she lost her dear husband in December, and fought to rebuild another chapter of her life alone.  After several months, she succumbed to the final fight with cancer and left this earth on April 6, 2017.  Her absence will leave a big hole in the lives of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband, Harold Keith Bradley and survived by her four children: James (Effie), Stephen (Barry), Jane Ann Hofmeister (David), and Susan Finley (Joseph). She is also survived by ten grandchildren: Katherine Boege (Neil), Joanna Papalios (Elias), Lauren, Michael, Nicholas Hofmeister, Elliott Hofmeister, Rena Hofmeister, Erin Finley, Thomas Finley, and Andrew Finley; and two great-grandchildren, Isla and Eloise Boege.

Celebration of Life Services

A memorial service in celebration of Jane's life will be held at 10 a.m. on May 27, 2017 at Lenexa United Methodist Church.

Memorial Contributions

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made directly to Olathe Medical Center Hospice House at 5310 S. Marion St, Olathe, KS 66061.