Johnnye Catherine (Ross) Bradford

Johnnye Catherine (Ross) Bradford passed away on Saturday, February 12, 2022, with her husband, son, and daughter at her side comforting and encouraging her as she entered her eternal home with her savior, Jesus Christ.

At the request of Johnnye Catherine and her husband, Bob, there will be a small, private funeral service limited primarily to family.

Born in Jackson, MS on February 16, 1941, Johnnye Catherine was the second of three children of E.B. Ross and Samantha Catherine (Myers) Ross. After graduation from Provine High School in Jackson, MS, she graduated from the Mississippi University for Women, majoring in mathematics. While working in Memphis, TN for Gordon Transports, she met a young graduate student, Robert H. Bradford (Bob), while attending St. Luke Methodist Church where the two were married on July 5, 1969.

Johnnye Catherine and Bob moved back to her hometown of Jackson, MS where they lived for the remainder of her life raising a son, Robert H. Bradford, Jr., who lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife Sondra K. Furlow, and a daughter, Leah Catherine Vernon, who remained in Jackson, MS with her husband Leigh Vernon.

She is survived by her sister, Sarah Hagar, of Florence and her brother, D.B. “Buck” Ross, of Brandon. She was close to both and delighted in a trip to the movies with her sister or a phone call with either at any time.

She was delighted to be known as “Mama Bear” to her Charlotte, NC grandchildren, Devon and Sabrina Bradford, and “Grammy” to her granddaughters Julia and Anna Davis of Jackson, MS. She was also very close to her nieces, nephews, and Bob’s brother, Steve. All of them looked forward to time at her house.

Johnnye Catherine modeled a servant’s heart teaching her children and countless others to love as God loves them. As a gifted homemaker, she created a warm, welcoming home where people loved to gather and visit together, often long into the night. Her quick mind lent countless smiles and insights as she listened patiently to others tell their stories or lament their concerns while contributing a helpful insight or a winking, gentle zinger at just the right moment. She led the Crafts Ministry of Galloway Memorial UMC as a place offering people from all backgrounds and abilities to join together in fellowship to find common ground in artistic expression.

No one left Johnnye Catherine’s house hungry whether it be the 100+ tacos she cooked for ten hungry teenage boys at one sitting or the myriad delicious desserts and dishes flowing unceasingly from her kitchen for over fifty years. Her children’s friends were excited to spend the night and eat at the Bradford’s, and her friends and family were just as quick to jump at the chance.

There are so many ways we learned to love by watching Johnnye Catherine in action. She taught us empathy for others and to see theirs needs as more important than our own by living it endlessly. She lived the verses of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 so tangibly, we can say we have seen firsthand what it is to love well:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

– 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (English Standard Version)

Expressions of sympathy or memorial contributions in Johnnye Catherine’s memory may be made to Grace Bible Church, 380 Highland Colony Parkway, Ridgeland, MS 39157 or to Galloway United Methodist Church, P O Box 1092, Jackson, MS 39215.