Harvey D. Bradshaw

August 25, 1932
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August 19, 2009

Harvey Bradshaw, 76, of Sneads Ferry died on 19 August 2009 from lung cancer. A prolific writer all his life, and a contributor to the Topsail Voice for more than 20 years, he describes himself in his own words below, taken from the biography he wrote last year for the exhibition of his African safari photographs at the Thurston Art Gallery. As he directed, Harvey's body was donated for research and teaching. In recognition of Harvey’s deep devotion to Dixon High School athletes and coaches, a memorial service to celebrate Harvey's life will be led by Kevin Hicks at Dixon High School at 11AM Saturday 29 August 2009. In lieu of flowers, Harvey's family asks that donations be made to the Dixon-Grant-Bradshaw Scholarship Fund at Dixon High School, 160 Dixon School Rd., Holly Ridge, NC 28445.

“Harvey D. Bradshaw was born in his grandparents' home on Old Folkstone Road in Sneads Ferry, Onslow County, North Carolina on August 25, 1932, in the heart of the Great Depression. He is a 10th generation descendant of Alexander Grant, who came to America from Grantown-on-Spey, near Inverness, Scotland, in 1691. Alexander had jury duty in Swansboro, Onslow County, NC, on July 4, 1732, the year George Washington was born.

For the first six years of his life Harvey and his mother lived with his grandparents, James Benjamin and Bettie Dixon Grant, and his bachelor uncles, Percy Granville and Hubert Leon Grant. His mother's youngest brother, Sterling Dixon Grant, and his wife, Edna Murrell Guthrie Grant, lived nearby and had four children--Betty Claire Grant Allison, Eric Dixon Grant, Elfleda (Tillie) Grant Shepard, and James Murray Grant--who became more like brothers and sisters than cousins. His natural father, Harvey Deakins Bradshaw, 28, of Decatur, Alabama, had died of rheumatic fever in Atlanta six months before his birth. His mother, Velma Grant Bradshaw Moore, married his stepfather, Paul Milton Moore of Green Wreath Farm at Bruce, west of Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina in 1938.

Harvey had a perfect attendance record in the first grade at Dixon School (named for his grandmother's family) and was a mascot for the graduating class of 1937. He attended Falkland School in Pitt County through the eighth grade and graduated with honors from Greenville High School in 1950. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a Naval ROTC scholarship, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in June, 1954, with a BA in journalism.

He accepted a commission in the United States Marine Corps, finishing as honor man in his platoon at The Basic School at Quantico, Virginia. After flight school at Pensacola, Florida, and Corpus Christi, Texas he was awarded his "wings of gold" as a Naval Aviator June 22, 1956. On July 15 he married Mary Eleanor Race of Quincy, Florida, the daughter and only child of Guy Austin and Louise Priest Race. Harvey and Mary's first son, Harvey D. "Toby" Bradshaw, Jr. was born at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC, on April 30, 1957. Their second son, Paul Race Bradshaw, was born there June 2, 1958.

Harvey served the Marine Corps for 26 years, retiring as a Colonel/Chief of Staff at Cherry Point July 31, 1980. He flew 306 combat missions in Vietnam in 1967, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross and 23 Air Medals. He commanded Marine Fighter/Attack Squadron115, the "Silver Eagles" in Japan, Okinawa, and the Philippines in 1974-75. He commanded Marine Aircraft Group-31, with six F-4 Phantom fighter/attack squadrons and support units, at Beaufort, SC, in 1976-77. He was honored as Marine Corps "Aviator of the Year" in October, 1977. His divorce was final the next month.

After his retirement in 1980, Harvey developed Fairlane Farms on property he inherited in Greenville. He moved back to Sneads Ferry in the mid-1980s, developing Grantwood, a subdivision on Everett's Creek some three miles from where he was born, where you could hear the ocean when the surf was high on Topsail Island. The development is dedicated to 300 years and 12 generations of the Grant family in Onslow County. The streets are named for family members, beginning with Alexander Lane and down to Bridget Lane, named for his first grandchild, Bridget Louise Bradshaw, 17, the daughter of Toby and Moira Carr Bradshaw.

Harvey has continued his lifelong interest in writing and photography, culminating in a photo safari to Zimbabwe, Africa in July 2007.”

Toby Bradshaw