Norma Marie Bradley
1945 – 2021
Norma Marie Bradley, beloved mother, sister and "Go-go" (the term affectionately used by her grandchildren), went to be with our Lord at the age of 76 on October 15, 2021. Norma was born on August 10, 1945 in Brooklyn, NY to Bill and Ginger Young. She was joined four years later by her sister Patty, whom Norma affectionately named "Pat the Water Rat." The Young family, by virtue of Bill's service in the United States Army, lived in Germany and Georgia before coming to land in Lawton, OK, much to Norma's chagrin as it was during her high school years. Though difficult to imagine now, Norma was an introvert and painfully shy. She preferred to pour over books and devoured any piece of literature she could get her hands on. This turned into a life long passion and developed her hunger for ever increasing education.
Norma had always dreamed of being a nurse, and while her family moved on to California, she chose to study Nursing under the Sisters of Saint Mary at Saint Anthony's Hospital in Oklahoma City, earning her Nursing Diploma in 1964. While the nuns were a force in her life, Norma opted to marry and follow in her father's footsteps of military service joing the Army Nurse Corps. As she prepared for a tour of duty in Vietnam, Norma was blessed instead with the arrival of Jennifer in 1968. Andra arrived in 1980, and Norma, ever intent on devouring as much knowledge as possible, returned to nursing and to school. She received her Bachelor's of Science in Nursing from Central State University in Edmond and went on to obtain her Master's of Science in Nursing from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. She enjoyed a long, distinguished career in nursing and spent many years at Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City in the Critical Care Unit, Emergency Room and in Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement. She became passionate about Healthcare Quality, and continued working in this area at both the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality and Physician's Liability Insurance Company, where she concluded her career.
Norma was preceeded in death by her father William Riley Young, mother Virginia Rose Young and grandson Ryder Aulbra Sargeant. She is survived by her sister Patricia Gail Osburn, daughters Jennifer Lynne Bradley-Smith and Andra Lauren Bradley, Son-in-Law Vernon Craig Smith, and grandsons Vernon Harrison, Riley Cole (and wife Lydia), and Carson Bradley Smith.
A celebration of life will be held Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 11:00 am at Southern Hills Christian Church 3207 S. Boulevard Edmond, OK 73013. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her honor to Southern Hills Christian Church's Weekend Breakfast Program, a service project she dearly loved and for which she spent many hours volunteering.
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