Astronaut Brady's Death Stuns Area BY JOHN CHAPPELL: STAFF WRITER
http://www.thepilot.com/stories/20060727/news/local/072806Brady.html Astronaut Charles E. Brady, formerly of Robbins, is dead at 54. His home town is in mourning over the loss of one of its most illustrious sons: an Eagle Scout, an athlete, a doctor, a Blue Angel, and a space traveler. A huge mural depicting Brady and the Space Shuttle Columbia overlooks the railroad across from the Old Elise Depot and the town hall. Now the town is puzzled and saddened by reports of the circumstances of his death. According to Chuck McCarty, a dispatcher with the Sheriff's Office in San Juan County, Wash., Brady died of apparently self-inflicted wounds. Sheriff's deputies had responded to a call from a home on Orcas Island Sunday afternoon, July 23. When they arrived at the scene, they spoke to a woman, Susan Oseth, and a 3- or 4-year-old girl. Jon Zerby, undersheriff of San Juan County, said Brady and Oseth lived together on Orcas Island. Zerby said Brady was divorced. Found After Search A deputy reported that "Oseth told him Brady had left on foot and gone to a wooded part of the island. The Island is big, 58 square miles, according to Deputy Ray Clever, senior officer on the scene. "The call had come in for a verbal dispute, but [there were indications of] something more unusual," Clever said. "That was a huge area to cover." Seeking to render Brady aid, the deputies called for backup and began a search. After a time, the officers discovered Brady's body in a wooded area. A paramedic pronounced him dead at the scene, and the body was taken to nearby Snohomish County for an autopsy. Neither the woman nor the child were physically harmed in the incident, according to the deputies. Orcas Island is off the coast near Bellingham, Wash. Brady and his former wife, Cathy, had previously maintained a home on Ben Ure Island, Oak Harbor, Wash. Funeral arrangements are being handled privately. Brady was celebrated for his many accomplishments. His space flight 10 years ago remains the longest such mission to date. Brady and six other astronauts orbited the earth 271 times and broke the shuttle endurance record by eight hours. That mission included studies sponsored by 10 nations and five space agencies, and the crew included a Frenchman, a Canadian, a Spaniard and an Italian. Brady was one of three mission specialists who conducted a number of experiments -- mostly on themselves -- in the orbiter's Life and Microgravity Spacelab. Brady would later describe that flight as "a sort of test bed for the international space station." He came back with a vivid memory of having seen rain forest devastation and damaged river systems, and a determination to do what he could to protect the earth. He didn't set out to go to space, but to follow in the footsteps of his father, a small town doctor. His father, the late Charles Eldon Brady Sr., was a family doctor with his practice in Robbins. An Eagle Scout, Brady graduated from North Moore High School in 1969, studied pre-medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his medical degree at Duke University in 1975. >From Duke, he went to the University of Tennessee Hospital in Knoxville for his internship, then entered practice with a focus on sports medicine, serving as team physician for Iowa State University in Ames. He continued in sports medicine and family practice for the next seven years, working as a team physician at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and East Carolina University, then joined the Navy. As a Navy doctor, Brady trained to be a flight surgeon at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute at Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla. In June 1986, he reported to Carrier Air Wing Two on board the aircraft carrier USS Ranger and was assigned to the attack wing including Attack Squadron 145 and Aviation Electronic Countermeasures Squadron 131. Two years later, Brady joined the "Blue Angels," the famous Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron. He served with them through 1990, and was serving in Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 129 when tapped by NASA for the astronaut program. Brady reported to Johnson Space Center in August 1992. In addition to his Columbia flight, Brady worked on technical issues for the Astronaut Office Mission Development Branch; flight software testing in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL); was astronaut representative to the Human Research Policy and Procedures Committee; deputy chief for Space Shuttle astronaut training; and chief for Space Station astronaut training in the Mission Operations Division. He logged more than 405 hours in space before returning to Navy duty as a surgeon. Born August 12, 1951, in Pinehurst, Brady always considered Robbins his hometown. Brady enjoyed canoeing, kayaking, tennis, biking, and was an amateur radio operator. After the death of his father, Brady's mother, Ann Maness Brady, continued to make her home in Robbins. One sister, Jerry Ann Kennedy, her husband Clifford, and two children Mark and Mary Jayne live in Burlington. John Chappell can be reached at 783-5841 or by e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gregory S. Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
