Mary Elizabeth Quayle Bradley (July 25, 1892 – December 1, 1965)

Mary Elizabeth Quayle was the daughter of Charles and Eudora Goodfellow Quayle. She had one sister, Sarah Jane, who was two years younger. Charles Quayle was the sheriff of Moberly and a highly respected citizen. When Mary was ten, her father died of tuberculosis.

Mary attended Moberly High School and graduated in 1910. She then moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota, for college, where an aunt was a teacher. Following two years of college, Mary took a teaching job in Albert Lea, Minnesota. In 1914, Mary, Sarah Jane, and their mother moved to Columbia, Missouri, so the girls could attend the University of Missouri.

In the summer of 1915, Mary became engaged to Omar Bradley who had just graduated from the United States Military Academy. Mary had known Bradley for some time. The families were neighbors in Moberly, and the two were in the same high school class. They planned to marry in the spring of 1916; however, only a few weeks before the ceremony, the army ordered Bradley to the Mexican border. The wedding was postponed. Shortly afterwards, Mary contracted typhoid fever. She was ill for months. While in the hospital, she lost all of her hair. Finally, on December 28, 1916, Mary Quayle and Omar Bradley were married in Columbia, Missouri.

For the next forty-nine years, Mary Quayle Bradley was an “army wife.” She moved many times, from one army post to another. There were other times when she was separated from her husband for months. After two problem pregnancies, she gave birth to a healthy daughter in 1923 and named her Elizabeth. As Mrs. Omar Bradley, Mary met many important military and political leaders.

When General Bradley retired from the army, the couple settled in Los Angeles. They then moved to Washington, DC, where Mary was close to her six grandchildren. In poor health, Mary entered Walter Reed Hospital where she died of leukemia on December 1, 1965. She is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Unless otherwise noted, © The State Historical Society of Missouri