A well-attended memorial service for the late Waveny Bradshaw Bean Weymon at the New Testament of Church of God's Heritage Hall in Hamilton was an occasion for reawakening pleasant memories of life in Bermuda during the early to middle years of the 20th Century.

Waveny or 'Waverly' as many of her friends called her was the sixth child born in Middle Town, Pembroke to Ulysses and Laura Ashby Bradshaw on June 14, 1938. She was a bright and extrovertive young lady, who like her siblings was trained in the performing arts by her mother. As a dancer and singer, she was embellished by such dynamic contemporaries as Barbara Horton Symons, formerly of Somerset and now a retired Central State University professor in Ohio.

Finding expression for her talents in the church as opposed to the nightclub circuit, she was embraced by Bishop Charles Foster (Holy) Fubler; worked in his New Testament Church of God at the old Colonial Opera House, where she became a choir director and youth counsellor. She performed with the EMANCIPATIONS, and cut her own records, the most popular being "O Happy Days".

When broader horizons beckoned to Waveny, she migrated to Chicago. There she qualified as a para-educator at Prairie State College, operated a Home Clinic for abandoned children and became an ordained minister in the Baptist Faith.

A multitude of friends joined her only surviving sibling, Sister Daphne Bradshaw Anderson, nieces, nephews and other family for her Memorial Service conducted by the New Testament pastor, Rev. David Lambe. He, incidentally, is one of Waveny's many god-children. Other clergy participated.

Her nephew, Dr. Michael Bradshaw, a retired Bermuda College lecturer and Bermuda Regiment officer gave a power-point presentation on Waveny's life, which was followed by on-line tributes from near and far.

What this writer found most interesting were the references to Waveny's father Ulysses. He was in his native British Guyana, now Guyana, having retired as an officer who served in the 1914-18 World War. He was recruited to come to Bermuda to work in the Dockyard. He came to reconnoiter the country, found it to his liking and returned to Guyana for his new bride who was a teacher who had received her Cambridge Certificate at an early age.

Ulysses was a master carpenter and building contractor. He trained and employed such carpenters as the late Ross Manders and Gerald Brangman (the first president and one of the founders of the Bermuda Workers Association). He was engaged in the building of the US Bases in the East and West Ends and in maintenance of hotels and retail stores in the country.

As busy as Mr. Bradshaw was in his businesses, he found time to be heavily involved in the Friendly Society Movement. He had a passion for ensuring that young men had life insurance; and he dabbled in importing foodstuff from the Caribbean. Among other things he is credited with being the one who introduced brown rice to Bermuda. Also he imported merchandise from England, especially Christmas cards and toys.

As a sidebar to this feature, we feel constrained to state that the legacy of Waveny and her father Ulysses and mother Laura is being ably carried on by her nephews and nieces all high academic achievers including Dr. Michael Bradshaw, educator turned land developer including Prosperity Heights, the complex atop Till's Hill on the corner of Court and Ewing Streets. Also Michael is a founding member and president of the Bermuda Friendly Societies Association; and he's a prime mover in the North Hamilton EEZ.

Other grands are former teachers Judy Anderson, now studying law in England; Lori Daniels, now an insurance manager; hospitality industry manager and ex-boxer Derek Anderson; physiotherapist Kevin Anderson; Troy Anderson, Government Information Systems Analyst. Also prominent are tennis coaches Jerome Bradshaw, just back after leading a Bermuda youth group in Venezuela and his sister Donna Bradshaw.

The foregoing are just a few of the Bradshaw achievers.