In order to appreciate
the Bill Brady that we all know and love today, we need to explore a little bit
about his rich and interesting past!
Bill was born in St. Louis, Missouri during the final year of WWII. After spending several early years in South
America, Bill’s family, which included Mom, Dad and four boys, moved to St.
Tammany Parish.
Bill graduated from
Covington High School and then went on to become Student Government President
at Southeastern Louisiana College, earning a degree in government. After toying with the idea of going to law
school like his brother Jim, Bill, like his brother Colin, decided to become a
teacher. And we are SO GLAD he did!
Bill taught in numerous
schools in St. Tammany, including Slidell Junior, Bayou Lacombe Junior, and
Chahta-Ima Junior, where he soon became the assistant principal. When this school burned down in 1976, Bill
became the principal of Bayou Lacombe Junior High, where platooning had to be
implemented. Bill remembers fondly some
of his co-workers at this school, including Kay Fortenberry, Ray Sibley, Peter
Jabbia, Carl Benoit and Willie Jeeter.
The faculty meetings must have been epic!
From 1980-1995, Bill
served as principal of Covington Elementary, where he became famous for knowing
every student by name and able to recall funny events about every child’s
former family members. If he didn’t
really know a humorous story about a child, he would make one up!
His spot-on humor became legendary! But his compassion for ALL children and their
right to a strong education was even more compelling. He made sure that Covington Elementary was on
the forefront of technology as computers were just beginning to be used in the
classroom.
In 1995, Bill moved to
central office as a supervisor and eventually an assistant superintendent in
charge of administration, working closely through the years with Richard
Tanner, Lennie Monteleone, Gayle Sloan, Mike Cosse, Peter Jabbia and Trey
Folse.
Bill finally retired
after 46 years of dedicated service to every student, parent and educator in
St. Tammany Parish, leaving an unparalleled legacy of compassion and knowledge.
On the home front, Bill
married his sweetheart Angela Howes, and they raised two beautiful and gifted
children, a son Kelly and a daughter Maura. Now, Bill and Angela are committed
grandparents to three precious granddaughters, McKinley, Evyn and Kate, ages
14, 11 and 9 who live in Humble, Texas.
Bill and Angela squeeze in trips to Texas as often as they can.
Always an early riser,
Bill continues that habit in retirement where he can be found cutting grass
before it gets too hot, accompanying Angela to church, or meeting some buddies
for breakfast. He has a monthly lunch
date at Chimes restaurant with a regular group of guys, including Brandon
Clanton, Simmie Fairley, and Ron Caruso to name a few.
When asked if he had any
hobbies, such as fishing, Bill replied the only thing he ever caught the one
time he tried to fish was a game warden!
He does have a strong passion for the St. Louis Cardinals stemming from
his very early days in Missouri and tries to catch them on TV when he can. Stan Musial is his favorite!
Instead of hobbies, Bill
is still committed to service projects dear to his heart. He continues to work with the United Way, an
organization which he championed tirelessly throughout his educational
career. And he serves on the board and
is chaplain for the St. Tammany Retired School Employees Association.
Bill recalled one
incident that happened when he was principal at Covington Elementary. A little boy was choking on a hot dog and
Bill had to quickly perform the Heimlich maneuver on him to dislodge the piece
of meat. The next day Bill received a
little handwritten note that said, “Thank you for saving my life, Mr. Brady.”
Indeed, Mr. Brady has had
a hand in saving many lives.
