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In Memory

David James Brademas - Class Of 1948 VIEW PROFILE

David James Brademas

  

DAVID J. BRADEMAS

Dec. 15, 1929 - Aug. 19, 2013
SOUTH BEND - David James "Jim" Brademas, Ph.D., 83. Dr. Brademas passed away on August 19, 2013 after a long battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He was born December 15, 1929 in Mishawaka, IN and grew up in South Bend, IN. He went into the Navy upon graduation from South Bend Central High School.

After the Navy, he spent the next five years at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, graduating with a B.S. degree in 1954 and a M.S. degree in 1955, both in Recreation, Sport and Tourism Management. He married his college sweetheart, Edith Anne "Than" Penington, on June 9, 1955 at the Wesley Foundation, Urbana, IL. He whisked her off to Athens, Greece for ten months where Jim taught English as a Fulbright Scholar.

Upon their return to the U.S. in 1956, he was appointed the first Superintendent of Recreation for the Rockford, IL Park District. In 1960, he became Vice-President of City Planning Associates in Mishawaka, IN and, subsequently, President. From 1969-1973 he served as Vice-President of Barnaby's Restaurants, headquartered in Chicago, IL. Always interested in education, he returned to the University of Illinois as a doctoral student, earning his Ph.D. in Recreation Management in 1976. He stayed at the University and taught for 26 years, mentoring and advising hundreds of students and communities in the delivery of public recreation programs, his passion.

In 1982, he was elected as a member of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration. In 2005, he was selected (and interviewed) as one of the American Academy Legends for having made outstanding contributions to the field of Parks and Recreation. Jim was honored with the Charles K. Brightbill Alumnus Award in 2010 for his scholarship and leadership in Parks and Recreation.

He was active in the First United Methodist Church of Champaign and the Kiwanis Club of Champaign-Urbana. Jim and Than retired to Tucson, AZ in 2000 where he was an active member of St. Mark's United Methodist Church, SaddleBrooke Community Outreach, SaddleBrooke Democrats, and the Institute for Learning in Retirement at SaddleBrooke. His favorite leisure time activities were gardening, playing tennis, performing magic tricks, reading, and watching news programs. He found great joy in helping his children and grandchildren, in discussing politics with anyone who would so engage, and in traveling the world with his wife, including returning to his ancestral Greece many times for vacation and study.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Stephen J. and Beatrice Brademas and his brother, Tom Brademas.

He is survived by his wife, Than Brademas; their four children, Jeffrey (Judy) Brademas of Nairobi, Kenya, Jennifer Brademas of Virginia Beach, VA, Katherine (Daniel) Young of Silt, CO, and Christina Brademas of Tucson, AZ, and six grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother, John (Dr. Mary Ellen) Brademas, Ph.D., of New York, NY and sister, Eleanor Keb of South Bend, IN.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, September 21, 2013 at 2:00 pm at St. Mark's United Methodist Church, 1431 W. Magee Rd., Tucson, AZ 85704. Please find the online guest book at www.vistosofh.com. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to any of the following organizations important to Dr. Brademas. Please include fund name, where applicable, and "In Memory of Jim Brademas" in memo line and/or communication: Brightbill/Sapora Professorship in Recreation (Fund #770188) in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, checks payable to University of Illinois Foundation, 1305 West Green St., MC-386, Urbana, IL 61801; St. Mark's United Methodist Church, 1431 West Magee Rd., Tucson, AZ 85704; Casa de la Luz Foundation (Hospice care), 7740 North Oracle Rd., Tucson, AZ 85704; Stephen J. and Beatrice Brademas Memorial Scholarship in the Department of History (Fund #3852), checks payable to Ball State University Foundation, PO Box 672, Muncie, IN 47308 (or by phone 1-888-235-0058 or 765-285-8312); or Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, 230 East Ohio St., Suite 304, Chicago, IL 60611 (or by phone 888-733-6741 or online via http://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org/donate).

Published by South Bend Tribune on Sep. 1, 2013.

01/03/2023 EJS



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