Obituary of Theresa Malone Brady

Mrs. Theresa Malone Brady was born in 1919 in Coatbridge, Scotland, an industrial town approximately 10 miles east of Glasgow. She immigrated to the United States in 1925 with her mother and two sisters, Catherine and Mary to join her father who worked in the 59th St. Power plant. Living on 59th St. Theresa and her family were faithful Communicants at St. Paul’s Church, which was staffed by the Paulist Fathers, the same Order which then served at Good Shepherd. Her father decided to move the family to the still rural reaches of Inwood. They settled on Nagle Avenue and the three girls attended Good Shepherd School, with Theresa graduating in 1933. Because the family lived outside of the parish’s boundaries, tuition was $1.00 per student per month as oppose to $0.50 paid by in-parish families. After GSS, Theresa went on to George Washington High School, and Fordham University where she earned her Bachelors and Masters Degrees. She also pursued Doctoral Studies at Fordham. Theresa earned a scholarship from the Sisters of Mercy to help fund her studies at Fordham. One of the conditions to teach part-time in schools operated by the Order; Theresa entered the classroom as a teacher at the age of 19 at the Our Lady of the Scapular School on E. 29th St. She then went to St. Simon Stock School in the South Bronx and helped out at GSS as needed. Upon graduation in 1941, she was recruited by the FBI because she had a perfect mastery of the French language. During World War II, she acted as translator, smuggler, and courier for General Charles De Gaulle’s Free French forces at work in German occupied France. She went on several dangerous trips behind enemy lines. One of her missions took her to the Carmelite Monastery at Lisieux where the late St. Therese’s sister, Celine, still lived. Mrs. Brady is well known throughout the parish for her deep devotion to the Little Flower, as her late mother, Mrs. Malone, was the third miraculous cure needed to advance the cause of her canonization. Theresa taught in the New York City public schools for nine years and returned to GSS in 1960 where she stayed until her retirement in 1991. She taught every grade in the grammar school division and spend 57 years in the classroom. She was married at Good Shepherd in 1953. She still resides in Good Shepherd Parish and is a regular Lector and Communicant at the daily Noon Mass. Beloved wife of the late John. Loving mother of Therese, Mari Brennan, and the late Margaret. Adored grandmother of Harry and Joe. Dear sister of the late Sr. Mary White R.S.M. and Katherine Scott. She was a true icon of Good Shepherd Church School. Reposing at Riverdale Funeral Home Inc 5044 Broadway at the corner of 214th St, NYC on Wednesday 2-5pm and 7-9pm. Mass of Christian Burial to be held at Good Shepherd Church on Thursday 10am. Burial to follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. To plant Memorial Trees in memory of Theresa Malone Brady, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.