Windell Robertson Bradford

Windell Robertson Bradford of Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia died Thursday, January 23rd. He was born in Savannah on March 15, 1940 and attended Chatham County schools. He graduated with an Associate in Arts degree from Armstrong Junior College in 1959, a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Emory University in 1961, and a Masters in Public Administration from Syracuse University in 1971. He went to work for the Communicable Disease Center (CDC) in Atlanta in 1962, now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he had a long and distinguished career. He retired in 1995 and moved back to Savannah in 1998.

At CDC he served as a Public Health Advisor, a career system devoted to the organization and management of disease prevention and control activities in partnership with epidemiologists, physicians and others in scientific disciplines. This management/scientist team approach was employed in the conduct of field investigations and in the management structure of CDC. From smallpox eradication efforts, expansion of immunization and STD control programs, and working on the desegregation of hospitals and public health clinics in the 1960s; nationwide Swine Flu inoculation, and the investigation of what became known as Legionnaires disease in the 1970s; to toxic shock syndrome outbreaks, the public health response to the Mariel Boatlift, Mt. St. Helens eruption and the identification and early response to HIV/AIDS in the 1980s. He rose to become the senior management official in two major CDC’s centers; the Centers for Prevention Services and the National Center for Environmental Health. Awarded the CDC’s highest honor, the CDC Medal of Excellence in 1985, Windell was recruited to join the U.S. Government’s Senior Executive Service. Since his retirement from CDC in 1993, Windell provided consulting on public health issues for organizations across the United States.

Windell Robertson Bradford is preceded in death by his mother, Sarah Robertson Bradford, his father Brazil Ransom Bradford Jr., and his wife, Gail McDaniel Bradford. He was also preceded in death by two brothers, Brazil Ransom Bradford III, and Neil Andress Bradford. He is survived by his sister, Sallie Bradford Krickel, and his brother, John Ingram Bradford. He is survived by three daughters; Susan Bradford Hall (Mark), Margaret Bradford Myers (Brad), and Catherine Bradford Bugg (Joe); his grandchildren, Scott Hall, Anna Barefoot, Leah Bergemann, Allan Myers, Anne-Bradford Bugg and Charlie Bugg; and his great grandchildren, Lathan Barefoot and Lawson Barefoot. Windell will long be remembered and loved dearly by his extended family and friends.

Services will be held at 1pm on Sunday, January 26th at Holy Trinity Parish Episcopal Church in Decatur, Georgia. A gathering for family and friends will be held immediately after the service.

In lieu of flowers, it is requested that donations be made to Wesley Oak United Methodist Church, 3124 East Victory Drive, Thunderbolt, Georgia, 31404. Please send in care of the Reverend Lynn Drake, Pastor at Wesley Oak. Additionally, donations may be left at a designated collection box at Holy Trinity Parish.