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Brad's obituary

Bradford John Anderson (December 11, 1952-July 4, 2021), proud Northwesterner (raised in Portland, Oregon; Wilson High School class of 1971) and descendent of Hood River homesteaders and of Swedish and Austrian immigrants. Moved south for college at Pomona (class of 1975) then east for law school at George Washington Law School (1977) and early work as a law clerk to Hon. Oliver Gasch, D.D.C. (1978, in Abscam times) and an associate at Sherman & Sterling (1979 to 1985). Swept his wife, Brigid, off her feet at a litigation department dinner. He was a very good dancer, a snappy dresser, and the nicest guy she ever met. They married in 1983 and moved to Seattle where he practiced corporate reorganization law for many years (at Jones, Grey & Bayley, 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 three months parental leave just like his lawyer wife and always did more than his share of cooking, dishes, yardwork, laundry, and shopping. He loved being at home 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 left law practice in 2012 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 (to Mexico, Ireland, Egypt, Austria, South Africa, Italy, Australia, France, China, to name a few). He was also IBM (Irish By Marriage), coming to love Irish music and history. 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 was reunited with Conor and Lily and their partners. It was 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. 

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Bradford "Brad" Anderson