West, Kate Bradley

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Kate Bradley West, of Blacksburg, died on Monday, August 4, 2008, at Heritage Hall. Born in Moneta, Va., she was the daughter of the late Thomas Harry and Emma Nance Bradley.

After graduating from Moneta High School, Kate attended Radford College and Concord College. In 1940, she married James L.W. West Jr., and moved to Blacksburg. After graduating from Radford, Kate began a life-long career as an educator teaching elementary grades in the Montgomery County School System and in the Primary School of the U.S. Navy in Annapolis, Md. In 1968, she became Assistant Supervisor of Elementary Education for Montgomery County Schools, a position from which she retired in 1974. A member of Blacksburg Presbyterian Church since 1940, Kate was also a member of the Scotchtown Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the American Association of University Women, the Virginia Tech Faculty Womens Club, the Pot Pourri Club, the National Education Association, and the international educational association Delta Kappa Gamma.

Known for her determination, positive outlook, and love for all children, Kate was especially devoted to her own children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Predeceased by her husband of 44 years, James L.W. West Jr.; her twin brother, John Nance Bradley; her brothers, Robert Lee Bradley, Harry Bennett Bradley, Thomas Glynn Bradley, and James Estes Bradley; and her sister, Jane Bradley Ebert; Kate is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Katherine West Burkhart and Harold Burkhart, of Blacksburg; son and daughter-in-law, James L.W. West III and Mary Lee Carns, of State College, Pa.; former daughter-in-law, Susan Holt West, of Madison, Wis.; granddaughters, Emily West, of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Anna Katherine Burkhart, of Los Angeles, Calif.; grandsons, James L.W. West IV and wife, Kathryn Roesing West, of Madison, Wis., Thomas West, of Washington, D.C., and William West, of State College, Pa.; great-grandsons, Bradley and Thomas Viles, of Chapel Hill, N.C.; and greatgranddaughter, Clare West, of Chapel Hill, N.C.; sister-in-law, Georgie Hamilton West, of Myrtle Beach, S.C.; brother-in-law, Richard F. Ebert, of Elmwood Park, N.J.; and several nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at Blacksburg Presbyterian Church on Saturday, August 9, at 10 a.m., officiated by the Rev. Charles Taylor and the Rev. Catherine Snyder. Interment of ashes will take place in Woodland Cemetery in Ashland, Va., on Saturday, August 9, 2008, at 3 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to Blacksburg Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 144, Blacksburg, Va. 24063 or to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude’s Place, Memphis, Tenn. 33105. The family will receive friends on Friday, August 8, 2008, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Dr., SW, Blacksburg.