Sue Bradford

Sue Bradford rides a tractor, like her 89 year old father back in Lynchburg, Virginia. Sue's 1½ acres are what she has left of her late husband Buzz's family plot of 120 acres, given to Buzz's great-grandfather by Ulysses Grant. Buzz's family came to the Salt Lake Valley with the original Mormon Pioneers in 1847. In 1989, Sue and Buzz bought their piece of land, which included the original 1866 homestead, right before the house was to be demolished.

Sue was born and raised in Lynchburg in a Southern Baptist family. While growing up, it seemed to Sue that her family judged all aspects of life by emotion rather than reason, within the context of an irrational Baptist world view.

She graduated from Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia. Afterwards, she eagerly accepted job positions outside of Virginia, searching for a clearer frame of reference for her life.

She landed in Houston around 1977 and worked for Shell Oil. While there, Sue met Buzz Bradford, a Shell exploration manager, in 1982. In 1986, Buzz and Sue married. Buzz's job took them to Syria for 6 months, where Sue experienced a tolerant Moslem society and delighted in the Syrian people

Buzz retired from Shell in 1989. That's when they learned that the Bradford home was being sold. Buzz had wanted to make his way back to the Salt Lake Valley where he was born and raised as a Catholic. Buzz left Catholicism in adolescence.

The house, though structurally sound, was black from fire, covered with vines and had been abused by vagrants. Restoring the house to its original state became their labor of love. They did most of the work themselves. In 1996, Sue and Buzz followed their hearts and moved into their Salt Lake homestead.

The house, though structurally sound, was black from fire, covered with vines and had been abused by vagrants. Restoring the house to its original state became their labor of love. They did most of the work themselves. In 1996, Sue and Buzz followed their hearts and moved into their Salt Lake homestead.

Once here, Sue joined a Yoga class and attended the Universalist Unitarian Church with Buzz where they finally caught up with the Humanists. In Buzz, Sue found what she had been searching for when she left Virginia long ago. Buzz, an inherent problem solver, had a scientific, rational mind. He looked at life through a frame of reference bounded by reason. Experiencing Buzz's way of looking at the world introduced Sue to an objective way of dealing with life and helped free her from the rampant emotionalism of her past.

Her love for Buzz and new understanding, led her to join the Humanists with him. Sue is a sensitive woman with a strong spiritual bent. Her compassion for people allows her to appreciate Humanist promotion of tolerance, clear thinking and open discourse.

When Buzz passed away in 1998, Sue directed her deep sense of sorrow and loss to finishing their Bradford home, down to every detail that she and Buzz had discussed. Sue is finishing the house by herself now and she is sharing its sense of history with Buzz?s grandchildren. Sue's precious home is a compelling reminder of Buzz and of her own directed, spiritual humanism.

--Mary Sanderson