Phyllis Bradford Bradshaw returned home on March 22, 2017. She was born on November 16, 1923 in Salt Lake City to John Rawsel (Ross) and Lenore Maxwell Bradford. She grew up a happy child in a loving home, the sixth of nine children. She was very close to her father, who died when she was only fourteen.
Phyllis graduated from East High School and began working at Uintah School, then later as a switchboard operator at the Utah State Capitol. She fell in love with a young officer from Virginia, named Marce Odis Dunn, who was stationed at Kearns Air Force Base during World War II.
They married and moved east to Virginia where he attended pharmacy school and they settled in Tennessee. They had two sons and a daughter, Kenny, Steve, and Janet. Phyllis loved the South with its' warm hospitality and rolling hills. She was a good cook who learned the art of Southern cooking.
Phyllis was one of eight "pioneers" who formed a small branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Bristol, Virginia. She served tirelessly in the branch and was loved for her quiet service to so many. Her heart broke when her son, Steve, age 15, died in a motorcycle accident. She never stopped missing him.
Phyllis returned to Salt Lake following a divorce, torn between leaving her son and grandsons, but feeling a need to be near her aging, widowed mother and her siblings.
In 1974, she married William (Bill) Walters Bradshaw. Soon afterwards they served a mission in Singapore. She bore her testimony of Jesus Christ with her loving nature as well as her words.
Phyllis had many attributes we loved. She adored and was adored by the children in her life. She was also loved for her quiet, continual service. She amused us with her dancing and singing at family parties. She delighted everyone with her bright, cheerful nature and quick sense of humor. Her beauty was as stunning inside as it was on the outside. Her family members were the blessed recipients of her non-judgmental, gentle, and loving nature. There was never a doubt that her guiding star was her testimony of the Savior.
She is survived by her children Kenny (Vicki) Dunn and Janet (Wayne) Gundry, Stepson Bill (Marge) Bradshaw, and Stepdaughter Linda (Russ) Fotheringham, 23 grandchildren, 64 great-grandchildren, sister, Gwen (Jack) Goaslind, brother-in-law Howard (Afton) Bradshaw, and sister-in-law Mary (Charles) Bradford. She was preceded in death by her parents, her son Steve, her stepdaughter Marcia Ellis, and 7 siblings; Marvin Bradford, Carol Bradford, Rhea Allen, Jack Bradford, Clive Bradford, Afton Bradshaw, and Charles Bradford.
Funeral services will be Friday, March 31 at 11 a.m. at the Foothill Stake Center, 1933 South 2100 East, Salt Lake City, Utah. Friends and family may visit Thursday evening, March 30, from 6-8 p.m. at Larkin Sunset Lawn, 2350 E. 1300 S., Salt Lake City and Friday, March 31, 2017 from 9-10:30 a.m. prior to services. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Alzheimer's Association. Special thanks go to her loving caretakers at Highland Care Center. Interment at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
