Br. Lawrence Bradford (1939-2015)

Br. Lawrence Bradford passed away on September 14, 2015.

Point-blank fact:  Brother Lawrence Bradford knew everything, and he was quick to let you know.  Born in Atlanta, Kan., in 1939, he graduated from Palco High School, then attended the University of Kansas.  During his studies in Lawrence, Kan., he converted to the Catholic Church, and upon completing his degree came to St. Benedict’s College to study in the School of Theology.  He entered the novitiate at the Abbey in 1962, but did not persevere.  He would come back one year later to enter the novitiate, but again left before professing vows.

Lawrence would complete his Master’s degree and begin teaching biology at the high school level at various schools in Kansas and Missouri.  His teaching career led him back to Atchison in the mid-1970s where he taught at Maur Hill Prep.  A call to find Christ in community would continue to attract his heart.  In 1978, Lawrence entered the novitiate a third time, persevering to profession of vows on August 15, 1979.  Brother Lawrence returned to teaching at Maur Hill, then began doctoral studies shortly after in microbiology at the University of Kansas.  He was the first brother in the community to have completed doctoral studies.  After successfully defending his dissertation, Br. Lawrence taught in the Biology Department at Benedictine College until his retirement in 2014.  

It was shortly after this that the cancer he thought he had beaten returned.  He battled for another year before coming to peaceful terms with the understanding that the fight was over.

Brother Lawrence, for many, was St. Benedict’s Abbey.  In conversations with him, you undoubtedly felt the spirit of the community; he had the knack and ability to share himself, his work, and the life of the community through his genuine hospitality.  He strove to educate young adults so that they “wouldn’t be idiots all their lives.”