Obituary for Charles W. Bradley
Charles W. Bradley, of Fort Lee, NJ, passed away on Friday, October 22, 2021. He was 93 years old.
Born in Nutley, NJ, he was the son of the late Charles and Genevieve (Whalen) Bradley.
During his senior year of high school, Charles enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps to support the war effort. Although he was only 17 years old at the time, he was able to enlist by claiming he was 18 - listing his occupation as “lumberjack.” When the war ended, Charles became a Merchant Marine and served as a cook on a tug boat that crossed the Pacific. He would later tell the story of how his shipmates loved his homemade bread so much that it caused a near-mutiny when the ship stocked up on store-bought bread in port. (The store-bought bread was thrown overboard in protest.)
When he left the service, Charles earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University, a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Newark College of Engineering (now the New Jersey Institute of Technology), and then a law degree, cum laude, from Rutgers Law School. Charles worked most of the time he was in school, including during law school when he served as a clerk for Judge Walter Freund of the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division.
After passing the patent bar, Charles moved to Chicago to join the law firm of Fidler, Crouse & Beardsley where he became a partner just a year later (at which time the firm was renamed Fidler, Bradley & Patnaude). While in Chicago, Charles was one of the founders of the Chicago branch of the Gateway Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping people suffering from addiction. He also co-founded the local chapter of the Catholic Alumni Club, where he met his future wife, Dolores.
Charles eventually moved to New York City, where he joined a new law firm, married, and welcomed two children. He ultimately ended up at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliff and became the head of the firm’s Intellectual Property Law Group. He continued supporting a variety of charities and became a Board Member at the drug addiction treatment organization, Daytop Village.
After a storied career that included submitting Amicus Curiae briefs before the Supreme Court of the United States, Charles moved to Croton-on-Hudson to retire. However, he quickly realized that he could not give up the excitement of patent litigation, and continued to practice from home. In recent years, he moved back to New Jersey to be closer to family. But even when he finally retired, he kept in touch with a number of former clients, who considered him a close friend.
Charles is most remembered by friends, family, clients, and even former professional adversaries, for his sense of humor, generosity, dedication and integrity. He is also remembered for his singing and wild jackets - at both family gatherings and professional events.
He is survived by his beloved wife Dolores (Skowron), his son Charles W. Bradley lll, his daughter Tara Bradley and her husband Phil Greenberg, and his three grandchildren, Dillon, Chase and Hunter Greenberg. He is also survived by his sister Patricia Coraggio. He was predeceased by his sisters, Virginia Rusignuolo, Ruth Lyons, Frances Gugliociello, Marilyn Berg, Lorraine Opiekun, and his brother, James Bradley.
Visitors will be received on Thursday October 28th from 5-8 pm at the S.W. Brown & Son Funeral Home (www.swbrownandson.com) at 267 Centre Street in Nutley, NJ.
The funeral mass will be celebrated on at 12 noon Friday, October 29th at the Church of the Epiphany at 247 Knox Avenue in Cliffside Park, NJ, with the interment to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, NJ. A lunch reception will be hosted by the family immediately afterwards (approximately 2:30pm). The location will be provided at the funeral, or you may contact the family directly.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make memorial contributions to The New York Founding (https://www.nyfoundling.org/), The Michael J. Fox Foundation (https://www.michaeljfox.org/) or the Daniel P. Berg ’13 Memorial Scholarship Fund, The Lawrenceville School (https://www.lawrenceville.org/).
Born in Nutley, NJ, he was the son of the late Charles and Genevieve (Whalen) Bradley.
During his senior year of high school, Charles enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps to support the war effort. Although he was only 17 years old at the time, he was able to enlist by claiming he was 18 - listing his occupation as “lumberjack.” When the war ended, Charles became a Merchant Marine and served as a cook on a tug boat that crossed the Pacific. He would later tell the story of how his shipmates loved his homemade bread so much that it caused a near-mutiny when the ship stocked up on store-bought bread in port. (The store-bought bread was thrown overboard in protest.)
When he left the service, Charles earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University, a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Newark College of Engineering (now the New Jersey Institute of Technology), and then a law degree, cum laude, from Rutgers Law School. Charles worked most of the time he was in school, including during law school when he served as a clerk for Judge Walter Freund of the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division.
After passing the patent bar, Charles moved to Chicago to join the law firm of Fidler, Crouse & Beardsley where he became a partner just a year later (at which time the firm was renamed Fidler, Bradley & Patnaude). While in Chicago, Charles was one of the founders of the Chicago branch of the Gateway Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping people suffering from addiction. He also co-founded the local chapter of the Catholic Alumni Club, where he met his future wife, Dolores.
Charles eventually moved to New York City, where he joined a new law firm, married, and welcomed two children. He ultimately ended up at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliff and became the head of the firm’s Intellectual Property Law Group. He continued supporting a variety of charities and became a Board Member at the drug addiction treatment organization, Daytop Village.
After a storied career that included submitting Amicus Curiae briefs before the Supreme Court of the United States, Charles moved to Croton-on-Hudson to retire. However, he quickly realized that he could not give up the excitement of patent litigation, and continued to practice from home. In recent years, he moved back to New Jersey to be closer to family. But even when he finally retired, he kept in touch with a number of former clients, who considered him a close friend.
Charles is most remembered by friends, family, clients, and even former professional adversaries, for his sense of humor, generosity, dedication and integrity. He is also remembered for his singing and wild jackets - at both family gatherings and professional events.
He is survived by his beloved wife Dolores (Skowron), his son Charles W. Bradley lll, his daughter Tara Bradley and her husband Phil Greenberg, and his three grandchildren, Dillon, Chase and Hunter Greenberg. He is also survived by his sister Patricia Coraggio. He was predeceased by his sisters, Virginia Rusignuolo, Ruth Lyons, Frances Gugliociello, Marilyn Berg, Lorraine Opiekun, and his brother, James Bradley.
Visitors will be received on Thursday October 28th from 5-8 pm at the S.W. Brown & Son Funeral Home (www.swbrownandson.com) at 267 Centre Street in Nutley, NJ.
The funeral mass will be celebrated on at 12 noon Friday, October 29th at the Church of the Epiphany at 247 Knox Avenue in Cliffside Park, NJ, with the interment to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, NJ. A lunch reception will be hosted by the family immediately afterwards (approximately 2:30pm). The location will be provided at the funeral, or you may contact the family directly.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make memorial contributions to The New York Founding (https://www.nyfoundling.org/), The Michael J. Fox Foundation (https://www.michaeljfox.org/) or the Daniel P. Berg ’13 Memorial Scholarship Fund, The Lawrenceville School (https://www.lawrenceville.org/).