Damron Blair Bradshaw
Join us in celebrating Damron—please share your stories and photos, and help spread the word about this page!
78, lifelong resident and leader of Chesapeake went home to be with his Lord Saturday, January 16 after a short illness with Covid-19.
Preceding him in death were his parents, Jesse M. and Sarah V. (Childress) Bradshaw; brother, Jesse (Sonny) Bradshaw Jr.; nephew, Jesse M. (Matt) Bradshaw III from Humble, Texas; step-grandson, Andrew Scott Daugherty; sister-in-law, Donna Caudill Legg and brother-in-law, John William Caudill.
Surviving are his wife of 30 years, Mary Jane Caudill Bradshaw; sons, Paul Bradshaw (Bonita) and Charles Bradshaw both of Chesapeake; granddaughter, Ashley Bradshaw Carver (Cody) of Dry Branch; sister-in-law, Beulah Bradshaw Ford; nephew, Mark Bradshaw; great nephews, Jesse and Mason Bradshaw all of Humble, Texas; sisters-in-law, Sue Caudill Whittington (Wayne) and Janice Caudill Jenkins; brother-in-law, Damon Caudill (Kim); step son, John D. Scott III; step daughters, Kim Scott and Lori Daugherty (DeWayne); step grandchildren, Derek (Kelly) and Alicia Scott, Nathaniel (Emily)Hall and Mary Jane (Hall) (Jonathan) Ramsey, Adam (Katey), Alex (Lacee), and Aaron Daugherty; step great grandchildren, Henry and Hayden Hall, Jarrett Ramsey and Winston Daugherty; who all love him very much.
Damron was in the graduating class of 1960 at East Bank High School and graduated from West Virginia Tech with a degree in Business. Brad retired as a Shift Supervisor at E. I. Dupont's Belle Plant. He had thirty-two years of perfect attendance and was president of the Twenty-Five Year Club in 1986. He was first elected to the Chesapeake Town Council in 1971 and held every elected office in the town. He became mayor on January 21, 1991 and served twenty-four and one-half years. He also served as Municipal Judge from 1995 to 2015.
Brad was ordained in 1974 in the Assembly Mission Association. He served as Associate Pastor from 1974-1982 of the Chesapeake Assembly. He then was a member of the Reynold's Memorial United Methodist Church in Marmet and Day Star Church in London, Ohio and served as pastor of the Racine United Methodist Church from 2000 until present.
Damron was fluent in Portuguese. In 1971 he became interested in the Brazilian Mission Program of the Pentecostal Church of Christ. In 1976 he was the National President of the Pentecostal Ambassadors, the denomination's youth group. He was later named Field Secretary to South Africa for the group which recently had merged with another. He made more than thirty-five trips to Brazil in that capacity along with official mission trips to Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, French Guiana, Jamaica, Africa, India, and the Philippines.
He was a member of the Loudendale Lions Club since 1971 and a member of the former Upper Kanawha Valley Rotary Club. He served as President or Chairman of the Regional Development Authority, the Kanawha County 4-H Foundation, the Chesapeake Lions Club, the Kanawha County Enforcement Agency, the Upper Kanawha Valley Enterprise Community where he became Executive Director and held that position from 2005 until 2015. He was also a member of the West Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, a member of the Upper Kanawha Valley Economic Development Association, frequent advisor to the Kanawha County Commission and a former member of the Chesapeake Volunteer Fire Department. As you can see, Damron had devoted his life to service as evidence of the many hats he wore.
He loved WVU sports, Riverside athletics and spent countless hours working to improve the lives of those who live in the Upper Kanawha Valley.
The service will be conducted by the Rev. Bishop Clyde M. Hughes and the Rev. Richard Blevins. Burial will be in the Montgomery Memorial Park, London. Due to the current pandemic, the funeral services will be limited to family members only however, friends, acquaintances and the many lives Damron had touched are welcome to join via Damron's Facebook page through Facebook Live, Thursday, January 21st at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggest contributions be made to the Sugar Bear Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 439, London, Ohio 43140.
Please be fully aware and abide with the State of West Virginia and CDC guidelines during the COVID-19 Pandemic, which require face masks to be worn and that social distancing be observed should you wish to attend the funeral service.
Please visit our website fidlerandframefuneralhome.com to send the family online condolences or sign the guest book.