Katherine Mary Bradley

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our precious daughter, Katherine Mary Sarah Bradley (Katie), on May 31st 2026.

Katie was born on October 8th, 1990 in The Waldfriede Hospital in Berlin and as with all our children, immediately filled our lives with special love. We were both stationed there in the army. Katie was plagued with health problems since birth. She was immediately transferred to a hospital with more specialists due to extremely low blood sugar. It was several days before mom and dad could hold her in their arms.

At the age of 27 months, Katie was diagnosed with a very rare form of childhood leukemia with little chance of survival. In May of 1993 Katie received a bone marrow transplant at Children's Hospital of Washington DC. The transplant donor was her beloved aunt Joanne Phillips. Miraculously Katie survived and began a years-long struggle to overcome all the effects of chemo and radiation.

After her parents left the military and made several moves Katie finally settled in Northern Virginia (Herndon and Sterling) for 30 years. During these years, Katie had to work with all the issues caused by her bone marrow treatment. Also, unknown to us, during this time a brain tumor was developing in the frontal part of her brain. Tragically she was struck by a car at the age of 17 and was critically injured with multiple fractures.

Another long hard battle was being fought by our "Soldado de la Vida" or warrior of life. Recovery was hard but again Katie prevailed. Physically scarred, she began a new chapter in life. Graduating from Park View High School with the class of 2010.

In the summer of 2020, a CT scan discovered a mass in her brain. Her battles would begin all over again. She was diagnosed with what would become a cancerous meningioma. Ever the warrior she went through months of more radiation treatments, but nothing would damage her will and spirit to fight. In the late winter of 2025, the fight was coming to an end. The tumor was back and there would be no path to a cure.

Even with her diminutive stature, Katie's unique personality overcame even the most bombastic situations. She was bi-lingual, being fluent in Spanish as her second language. She loved dancing, at Rio Cantina, a vibrant Latin dance club and restaurant within walking distance of her home. She loved food and was open to any new food adventure including Pho soup, raw oysters, hot spicy anything and everything. She liked horseback riding, terrifying amusement park rides, Anime movies like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. The TV shows, Tosh.0, American Dad, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, American Dad, The Simpsons, and Futurama. Her favorite movie was “The Giver” as was her favorite book. Her favorite quote was " To see with eyes unclouded by hate".

Katie was pre-dated in death by her brother Sean, her maternal and paternal grandparents, her Aunt Sarah and Uncle Michael. Katie is survived by her parents, Barbara and Michael, Her sister Kelly (Dean), her brothers Patrick (Sally) and Beau (Kyle), her aunts; Patty, Joanne, Bonnie, Mary, and Tina; her uncles John and Paul, several nieces and nephews and many cousins.

A private celebration of life will follow on a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made in memory of Katherine Mary Sarah Bradley to Children’s National Hospital of DC. Contributions can be made securely online at https://www.childrensnational.org