Donald (Pete) P. Brady died April 23, 2016, at Regency on Whidbey in Oak Harbor, at the age of 90.
He was born Nov. 11, 1925, to Donald and Bernice Brady in Marshalltown, Iowa.
In 1943, he entered the Navy V-5 Aviation Cadet program; and in April 1946, he earned his Navy wings. Aircraft flown during his 29-year service included N2S Yellow Peril, SNJ Texan, N3N, OS2U Kingfisher, SC-1 Sea Hawk, SNB – Super Navy Bugsmasher, F8F Bearcat, F4U Corsair, F9F-2 Panther, UF Albatross, F9F-8 Cougar and F8U (F8) Crusader.
His Naval career saw duty on the USS Manchester CL-83, USS Essex CV-9, USS Bon Homme Richard CVA-31, USS Ranger CVA-61, USS Oriskany CVA-34, as weapons employment officer on Task Force 77 (USS Independence CVA-64, USS Kitty Hawk CVA-63, USS Constellation CVA-64) and as XO of the USS Point Defiance LSD-31.
While at Naval Postgraduate School, he earned a bachelor’s degree in meteorology; and while at the National War College, he earned a master’s degree in data processing from American University. After retirement from the Navy in 1972, he taught physical science at Grant Junior High School in Escondido, Calif., for 19 years.
He is survived by his wife Beatrice (Bea) J. Brady of 67 years. Also surviving are their four children and 14 grandchildren: Peter Brady and his wife Peggy of Napa, Calif., and their children, Ryan, Kevin and Laura; Patrick Brady and his wife Lisa, of Ventura Calif., and their child Megan and two children, Lindsay and Tanner Brady of a former marriage; Carol (Brady) Worthington and her husband John, of Oak Harbor, and their children, Alexis, Scott, Brian, Barbara; and Kelly Susan (Brady) Custer and her husband Robert, of Corona Calif., and their children, Jeffrey and Kristy. Pete was preceded in death by grandson Michael Custer and sister Virginia Baker.
A funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 28, at St. Augustine Catholic Church, Oak Harbor, with Rev. Paul Pluth as celebrant. Rites of interment and full military honors will follow at Maple Leaf Cemetery. The family suggests memorials may be made to the St. Augustine Building Fund, National Multiple Sclerosis Society or American Cancer Society.
