Gerald R. Bradley

Gerald R. Bradley of Athens, PA passed peacefully at home at the age of 88 on Thursday, October 6, 2022.

Gerald “Jerry” was the son of the late Clarence J. and Mildred F. Dunbar Bradley of Athens.

 He was predeceased by his sister, Marjorie Merrill, and four of his five brothers, John, Donald, Eugene, and Fay Ross.

 Surviving Jerry is his wife of almost 62 years, Nancy of Athens; his seven children – Robert and Joann Bradley of Nichols, NY, Michael Bradley of Athens, Jeffrey Bradley and Lucy Cuison of Corning, NY, Thomas and Cindy Bradley of Lockwood, NY, Judy and Vincent Happ of Doylestown, PA, Gary Bradley of Athens, and Kenneth and Renee´ Bradley of Powell, TN; his brother and sister-in-law, James and Lois Bradley of Raeford, NC; his 9 grandchildren – Brian Bradley of Nichols, NY, Shilo Morales of Endicott, NY, Michelle (Rob) Pettitt of Athens, Mark (Nichole) Bradley of Athens, Kelly (Josh) Day of Mill Hall, PA, Jennifer Garrison of Waverly, NY, Jerry Bradley (Krissy Vantassel) of Waverly, NY, Katie Bradley (Ryan Alard) of Lockwood, NY, and Evan Bradley of Powell, TN; his 19 great-grandchildren; his 2 great-great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. His sister-in-law, Hazel Bradley (widow of Eugene Bradley) of Sayre, PA, survives him as well.

 Jerry spent most of his life in the Valley, molded by his hard-working parents and the depression. As a child he enjoyed listening to his mother tell stories about the old days and enjoyed working on the farm with his father. He often recalled with fondness the shenanigans of he and his brothers, such as jumping out the second story window with an umbrella acting as a parachute or rolling down the inside staircase wrapped in a blanket.

Jerry’s kids reminisced about growing up and the pioneer things Jerry did. Jerry grew his own food for his family, including a large garden and had animals for milk or to be butchered for meat. He hunted rabbits and deer for food and maintained beehives for honey. Jerry spent time in the kitchen making pork rinds, cheese, maple syrup, bread, and pizza.

Jerry was ingenious and could build what he needed out of pieces and parts he already had laying around. He would not throw anything away because he said he might need it someday, and he often did. His kids would say he was a self-made genius. Jerry was inventive and creative. He was a hardworking, driven individual; persistent and tenacious.

Jerry began working at Smith & Bowen Machine Co. in Athens after his high school graduation and often recalled how fortunate he was for that experience. He then had a brief stint at the Ingersoll Rand Company before going back to work for Smith & Bowen. In April 1956, he started working at the Label Processing Corporation, later known as Packaging Systems Corporation, then as PAXAR and now known as Avery Dennison. Jerry started as a maintenance machinist and worked there for 41 years, retiring as a Chief Engineer, self-taught. He learned much about the machines and in 1963, after the Label Processing Corporation expanded into the packaging business, Jerry’s first engineering project was modifying their first label-making machine, impressing the company founder and president, Leon Hershaft. Leon referred to Jerry as “a genius”. Over his 42 years Jerry modified more machines and was involved in creating the company’s first printing machine called the “Fasco 5000”. Jerry worked with the development team at PAXAR on the Fasco label material. He built the machines to coat the Fasco material. Jerry designed every model of the in-plant label printers that were sold throughout the world. One of the most recognized clothing labels printed by Jerry’s machines was the iconic patch on the back of all Levi jeans (PXR would appear on the bottom right of the Levi Strauss & Co. patch). Jerry would say “we’re gonna take the bull by the horns and fix it and fix it right” when work needed to be done on the printing machines. He felt he was a key contributor for the company to grow from $12 million in revenue in 1975 to $222 million in revenue in 1997 with representatives in over 50 countries.

A naturally creative mechanical person, Jerry received his first U.S. patent in 1987 for a sublimation printing apparatus. He later received two other patents for his design work with others, one in 1990 for a combined web-cutting and sheet stacking apparatus and one in 1996 for a fabric security label. In 1995 Jerry received the 1st Annual Leon Hershaft Memorial Award, an award created to recognize the innovative contributions made to the company’s product development efforts.

Jerry wrote the following in his story presented to his children: “Now here in my 79th year, I’ll try to look back on my life. God has been very good to me. He has blessed me with a great family, a good job, a good common sense with an above average mechanical skill. This has allowed me to accomplish many things at both home and on the job. From 1974 until 1990, I designed every mechanical machine that PAXAR sold, and they made a profit on every one. My name is on three U.S. patents and will be as long as there is a United States Patent Office. I think that I have done very well for never having been to a college. I have always been a good worker and tried help anyone who asked me for help. I feel this is because Ross (Fay) and I were the last to leave the farm. We were taught that if you had something to do, you better do it, because there was no one else to do it. This gave me a lot of experience for later life.”

Jerry and his wife enjoyed travel, especially to places for gambling like Las Vegas and Memphis. They also enjoyed cruises through the Panama Canal, and to the Bahamas and Alaska. Jerry played softball for PAXAR’s team for several years. He coached midget football. Jerry played shuffleboard for many years in the Valley and maintained the shuffleboard tables at bars in the Valley. After his retirement in 1997, he enjoyed working on his property with his backhoe, building his stone walls, gardening, tapping maple trees and making maple syrup each spring, and reading about Native Americans and United States history. Jerry also enjoyed woodworking and carpentry. He made a huge spoon to stir apple butter and built several furniture pieces that will be cherished by family members including a coffee table, a bookcase, an entertainment center, a swing, a bar and a hutch. Jerry was a social member for many years at the Sons of Italy, Sayre, PA. Jerry attended the Sayre Christian Church, Sayre, PA.

Friends and family may call on Monday, October 17, 2022, from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Lowery-Urban Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Inc., 225 South Main Street, Athens, PA. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at 11:00 am at the Lowery-Urban Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Inc. with the Reverend James Donahoo officiating. Burial will be in Orange Hill Cemetery immediately following the funeral service.

Memorial donations may be made in his name to the Orange Hill Cemetery Association, c/o Steven Bradley, 101 Austin Street, Sayre, PA 18840, and Guthrie Hospice, 421 Tomahawk Road, Towanda, PA 18848.

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