Robert Bradham Obituary

Robert Randolph Bradham, M.D. Folly Beach - Robert Randolph Bradham, M.D., of Folly Beach, South Carolina, husband of Helen McLeod Bradham, entered into eternal rest Thursday, December 20, 2018. His Funeral Service will be held Saturday, December 29, 2018 in The French Huguenot Church, 136 Church Street at 11:00 a.m. The family will receive friends immediately following the service at the home of his daughter, Elizabeth Bradham, at 64 South Battery. Arrangements by J. HENRY STUHR, INC. DOWNTOWN CHAPEL. Robert Randolph Bradham, M.D., was born on November 9, 1924, the son of Riley Augustus and Mabel Bowman Bradham. Dr. Bradham attended The Citadel for two years before enlisting in the Army in 1943. He served as a staff sergeant in Company E, 262nd Infantry, in France and Germany, and received two bronze stars for heroic achievement in connection with military operations in Brittany during WWII. Dr. Bradham came back to the States after the end of the war, graduated from the University of South Carolina, and attained his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina, followed by a five-year surgical residency at the University of Michigan. Upon returning to Charleston, Dr. Bradham became Professor of Surgery at MUSC, and in 1964, attended Duke University Medical School for his cardiovascular and thoracic surgery training. When he returned to Charleston, Dr. Bradham went into private practice, while at the same time maintaining his teaching role as a professor of cardiovascular surgery at MUSC and pursuing research in cardiovascular and thoracic medicine. He remained a Clinical Professor of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at MUSC until his retirement. He received the Golden Apple Award from the American Medical Association for excellence in teaching at MUSC in 1962-1963. Over the course of his medical career, Dr. Bradham published over 100 medical research articles, and in 1983, received the Roe Foundation Award for the best paper of the year in The Journal of the South Carolina Medical Association. During Dr. Bradham's medical career, he was elected to seventeen different medical societies. He served as President of the South Carolina Surgical Association, the Medical Staff of St. Francis Xavier Hospital, the South Carolina Medical Society, and The Charleston County Medical Society; Chief of Surgery at Roper Hospital and Thoracic Surgery at St. Francis Hospital; and a member of the Board of Commissioners of Roper Hospital. Upon his retirement from medicine in 1995 at the age of 71, Dr. Bradham wrote three books on World War II: Hitler's U-Boat Fortresses; To the Last Man; and Set Europe Ablaze. He also developed a commercial blueberry farm, Sweet Blues Berry Farm, and at the age of 81, acquired his aircraft pilot's license. Dr. Bradham's last book, Old Friends, commemorates his later years as a blueberry farmer and his love for our farmland. Dr. Bradham is survived by his wife, Helen Cornelia McLeod; three children: Julia Elizabeth Bradham, Margaret Bradham Thornton (John Lawson Thornton), and John McLeod Bradham; four grandchildren: John Randolph Thornton, Alexandra Thornton, Elliott Thornton, and Elisha Thornton; a sister, Amelia Bradham Kesling; a brother, Peyton Welbourne Bradham; and numerous nieces and nephews. The family wishes to extend a special thanks to Dr. Bradham's caregivers, Isabel Yata and Cecilia Villalobos, for all of their love and care. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a charity of one's choice. A memorial message may be sent to the family by visiting our website at www.jhenrystuhr.com. Visit our guestbook at www.legacy.com/obituaries/ charleston