GERALDINE BRADY WAS A ‘LIFELONG FRIEND’
Great-grandmother, 83, left legacy of kindness
Geraldine Brady used to pull out photographs of her greatgrandson, dotingly telling visiting friends about the little boy, and rifle up newspaper clippings to show off articles about her daughter and the farm she ran. She was so proud of them, friend Feanny Xu told the Star. Brady, 83, who died last Monday in the van crash on Yonge St., left behind two daughters, five grandchildren, one greatgrandson and a lifelong wealth of friends. But she also left behind memories — of a woman who’d always offer a listening ear, took pride in her family and had a fierce independence that couldn’t be shaken by age. For Xu, her visits with Brady were always a solace from stress. She’d been visiting her Toronto home more lately, she said, soaking what she said called Brady’s unique brand of positive comfort. No matter what troubled her, when she arrived at her home, Brady would ask her to rest a while, and they’d chat about family or whatever else was going on. Brady, who lived alone, was still measurably independent. She worked for Avon and would head out on the road, Xu said, driving to deliver products to a customer base that in many cases dated back decades. That’s just how she was, Xu explained — caring for friends and customers alike that’d been in her life for 30 years, 40 years or longer. A trail of people leaving condolence notes on Brady’s online obituary remember her as, among other things, a “fabulous seamstress” and “lifelong friend,” with one couple noting they’d been friends with “Gerry” for more than four decades. For her hairstylist, Pat Fortini, Brady had been a constant presence for 15 years. She sported a signature bob, which she maintained at a weekly appointment. “She was a lovely lady,” said Fortini, who said he saw Brady the Friday before her death for her usual appointment. In tributes posted across the internet, friends mourned the loss of “a beautiful soul,” noting her witty sense of humour, warm heart, and happy, cheerful presence. Photographs of Brady, shared in her memory, show her in dazzling displays of colour, bright blazers and patterns.