FAYETTEVILLE -- Edwin G. "Brad" Bradberry, a Northwest Arkansas petroleum and investment businessman who donated extensively to the University of Arkansas and other groups, died Monday. He was 82.
Bradberry was tightly connected to the area's business community, serving as a charter member of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Authority, the Northwest Arkansas Council and several other boards. Family and colleagues said they remembered him as a canny businessman and committed philanthropist.
"It's a huge loss for the region," said Scott Van Laningham, CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, who worked with Bradberry to launch the airport.
"It's easy for folks to forget that it was not a sure thing, and he was a huge supporter," Van Laningham said, crediting Bradberry's sharp business sense. "He also was a wonderful man to be around. He was always in good spirits."
Bradberry is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Karlee Ruth Bown, as well as five children and 12 grandchildren. He died in his home near downtown Fayetteville, but also had a home in New York City, his family said.
Even from birth, much of Bradberry's life was on the move.
He was born Aug. 5, 1931, in Crossett, near the Louisiana border, and grew up in Monticello, about 30 miles to the north. He attended Rice University in Houston, where he met Karlee. They married in 1952.
Jobs with petroleum companies took Bradberry from Houston to Denver and back to Arkansas. The children grew up in Denver, but Bradberry bought a small farm near Brentwood in 1959 the family visited every summer.
"The land, the Ozarks -- he loved it," Bob Bradberry, the oldest son, said Tuesday. "We kind of joked some of the people in Arkansas were headed to Denver for their summers and we were headed to Arkansas."
In 1976, the Bradberrys settled more permanently on the Brentwood farm and Edwin Bradberry founded his own petroleum company, Continental Ozark, now TransMontaigne. Bob Bradberry joined him there until after the company went public in the late 1990s.
"He's the single best manager I've ever seen," Bob Bradberry said, adding his father was disciplined and held everyone accountable. "He was tough, but you felt like you were with a winner. He kind of started, and the trajectory never stopped."
The elder Bradberry moved on to B&B Resources, a family investment company. He helped form the Northwest Arkansas Council, donated tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships and equipment to the university, donated the Walton Arts Center's amphitheater and Fayetteville's World Peace Fountain in downtown and made other contributions throughout the area, his family said.
Cancer unexpectedly spread throughout Bradberry's body during the past month despite about 18 months of treatment, Bob Bradberry said.
"Ed Bradberry was one of the finest people I have ever known," David Gearhart, University of Arkansas chancellor, a friend, wrote in an email. "He loved the arts, athletics, education, medical science, business and his love of life and people had a far and wide reach."
Funeral services will be held at noon today at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville.
NW News on 06/19/2014