John Bradas
| John Leo Bradas (Louisiana business, civic, and | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Born | October 10, 1935 Alexandria, Louisiana | ||
| Died | January 12, 2022 (aged 85) Alexandria, Louisiana Resting place: | ||
| Political Party | Republican
Alma mater: | ||
| Spouse | Juanita Hayes Bradas (married 1955-2019, her death) Children: | ||
| Religion | United Methodist | ||
John Leo Bradas (October 10, 1935 – January 12, 2022) was a civic, business, and local political figure in his native Alexandria, Louisiana. He was elected in 1974 as the first Republican to the then eighteen-member at-large Rapides Parish Police Jury, subsequently reduced to nine single-member districts.
Background
A son of John and Linda McKenzie Bradas, he graduated in 1953 from Bolton High School in Alexandria. Two years later, he married his high school sweetheart, the former Juanita Hayes (1934-2019), a native of Dry Prong in Grant Parish who moved to Alexandria as a teenager. Bradas subsequently attended Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. He performed in bands while in high school and college. He earned his livelihood in insurance and securities. He retired in 1998 from the British-American multinational AON Corporation.[1]
Civic and political activities
In 1974, he was the lead plaintiff in a civil suit which successfully established single-member districts on the parish police jury. The plaintiffs were primarily Republicans and African Americans who were shut out of winning at-large positions. The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.[2]Later in the year, he was elected to the police jury and served one term[1] until he was unseated in 1978 by Democrat businessman Edgar Hathorn, his fellow incumbent.
Bradas was for many years the chairman of the Rapides Parish Gravity Drainage District. He was also a president and board member of the Toledo Bend Lake Association. He was a former president of the Alexandria Optimist Club, and a trustee and member of the choir at First United Methodist Church in Alexandria and the Zwolle Methodist Church in Sabine Parish, where he maintained a vacation home on Toledo Bend Reservoir. He coached Dixie Boys Baseball and officiated at high school football games for nearly three decades.[1]
Personal life
Mrs. Bradas was the executive assistant to the late engineer, James L. "Jim" Meyer at the firm of Meyer, Meyer, LaCroix & Hixson and member of the National Secretaries Association, which once voted her "Secretary of the Year."[3]
John and Juanita Bradas had three children, Nita Deville and husband Wayne, John Michael Bradas and wife Susan, and Jeffrey Alan Bradas, Sr., and wife Shonda. He died in Alexandria early in 2022 at the age of eighty-six. He and his wife are interred at Alexandria Memorial Gardens.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 John Leo Bradas. The Alexandria Town Talk (January 14, 2022). Retrieved on January 17, 2022.
- ↑ John Bradas v. Rapides Parish Police Jury, Louis Berry, Intervenors-Appellees, 508 F.2d 1109 (5th Cir. 1975). courtlistener.com. Retrieved on January 17, 2022.
- ↑ Juanita Hayes Bradas. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on January 17, 2022.
