Thomas W Brady

Thomas Wright Brady-compassionate healer, natty dresser, accomplished world traveler and list-maker extraordinaire (known to make lists of lists), died peacefully surrounded by family at his Reno home on Wednesday, November 17, 2021. Although he earned his Eagle Scout Award at the age of 13, it is generally understood that he possessed the spirit of an eagle from the day he entered the world on March 23, 1938. All credit goes to his loving parents Beryl and George Brady who raised him well in the small agricultural town of Concordia, Kansas on the Great Plains. It is no coincidence that Concordia is the county seat of Cloud County because young Tom soared cloud-high as a letterman in basketball, track, and as an All-State football player on the undefeated Panthers high school team. But despite being a Panther, it goes without saying that he remained, at heart, an eagle. After graduating high school in 1956, Tom married classmate Sue Gelvin and together they attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence. To the day he died, Tom stayed true to the KU Jayhawks. He later expressed this devotion by christening his 27' sailboat with that fictitious bird's name. But Jayhawks aside, have we mentioned the eagle? Majoring in Chemistry, Tom earned his degree in three years and was accepted to the University of Kansas Medical School in Kansas City. He completed a general surgery residency and went on to graduate in 1966 from a three-year program in Urology. That same year, at the height of the Vietnam War, Tom was drafted. He joined the U.S. Army as an Urologic Surgeon, while his wife Sue remained in Kansas with their three young daughters. Tom spent the first year of his enlistment at Cu Chi Base Camp, Vietnam, thirty miles south of Saigon. There, he joined a MASH Unit, treating wounded and sick soldiers in a steel reinforced Quonset hut. “Sometimes," he said, "when we came under attack and we had a wounded man on a gurney for surgery, we ducked fast, lowered the soldier onto the floor and kept working." While just beneath them, Viet Cong traversed an underground city, through the notorious tunnels of Cu Chi. After a second year with his unit in Xuan Loc, Vietnam, Tom was awarded an Army Commendation Medal. The Army then sent him home to Kansas where he served as a prison doctor at Fort Leavenworth. During this time, his wife Sue died, and Tom was left to raise their three little girls while finishing his Urologic Post Graduate Training. Before moving to Reno, Tom married Marlyn Kratzer. He was invited to join the Reno practice of Doctors Carl Sauls and Gordan Nitz. These three inspired men built the first Outpatient Surgery Center in Nevada and only the second such facility in the U.S. After his second marriage ended, Tom met and married the true love of his life, Janice Pritchard. In addition to Tom's marriage proposal, his daughters also proposed that Janice adopt them, to which she answered, "yes and triple yes”. In the ensuing years, Tom practiced with Doctors John Scott, Stephen Moss, Jonathan Garey-Sage, David Hald, Garo Gholdoian, and Robert Clift. Throughout his 40 years of urology practice in Reno, Tom served as President of the Reno Surgical Society, the Washoe County Medical Society, as well as the Nevada State Medical Association and the Western Section of the American Urological Association. Tom founded the Urological Service at the Reno VA Hospital and practiced there for 39 years. He served on numerous committees at every hospital in Reno and Sparks and worked as a lobbyist in Carson City for the State Medical Society. In honor of these tireless efforts, Tom received more awards than we can mention here. He valued his membership in the Reno Masonic Lodge #13, the Scottish Rites, Kerak Shrine, and Royal Order of Jesters. (As an aside, Tom was also an out-and-out prankster.) For twelve years Tom served on the Board of Governors of the Northern California Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento, CA. He was instrumental in restructuring all 22 Shriners Hospitals across the U.S. Tom was born a leader (eagle again...) but he also waded into all of life-literally waded deep into fly fishing, as well as golf galore. He quipped that his life was as blessed as his golf game where he didn't just get a hole-in-one. He got two! However, one of Tom's abiding disappointments were the humiliating routs suffered in his running battle against marauding squirrels in his backyard. On a lighter note, Tom loved the outdoors and camping. He sailed the entirety of Lake Tahoe with only a few minor disasters and no mutinies that anyone's aware of. He raised amazing orchids, and except for his learned restraint as an Eagle Scout, might've been the original orchid thief. Tom was a faithful 49er fan and as a season ticket holder, attended countless games, including “The Catch” in 1982 at Candlestick Park. He appreciated high cuisine and preparing intricate dishes. Still, he was known to sneak out for a Chick-fil-A milkshake and enjoyed a life-long love affair with canned Vienna Sausage. For Tom, there could never be too many good books to read. In his favorite chair, a book open in his lap, he might look up, peering over his reading glasses with the penetrating gaze of a you-know-what. At times, he expected of others the same impeccable behavior that he brought to his work as a surgeon. But when someone failed-which they occasionally, colossally did- instead of blame, he offered a warm helping hand. During his 83 years on Earth, his daughters learned many valuable lessons. One story goes that despite his vast medical knowledge, when any of his children felt a little ill, he instructed them to stand for several minutes in a warm shower and breathe the steam. Now the eagle has landed. His life ranged far and wide. He loved his friends and family fiercely and deeply. His spirit is carried on by his wife of forty years, Janice; his children Debbie DeAngeli and husband Dave, their daughter Heather Eaton, her husband Brandon; Kathy Diamond and son Brady; Liz O'Brien and husband Brien, their sons Brien Thomas and Travis, his wife Danielle. A Memorial Service will be held Wednesday, December 15 at 1:00 PM at Mountain View Mortuary, 425 Stoker Avenue. A Celebration of Life will follow at Hidden Valley Country Club from 3:00-5:00 PM. The family is grateful for all the loving support shown to them. In lieu of flowers, Tom's memory can be celebrated by a donation to: The Shriners Hospital for Children 2425 Stockton Boulevard Sacramento, CA 95817 ATT: Alan Anderson