Darren Roland Bradford, 34, of Heppner, a former Unity resident, died Sept. 10, 2005, at Pilot Rock.
His funeral will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Burnt River High School in Unity. Interment will be at the Unity Cemetery.
Visitations will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at the Burns Mortuary of Pendleton.
Darren was born on Jan. 14, 1971, at Seattle, Wash., to Gail and Lea Clevenger Bradford. At the age of 6 weeks, he moved with his family to Baker City where he lived until he was 9 months old.
From Baker City, the family moved to Unity where Darren grew up. He was a 1989 Burnt River High School graduate. He attended Blue Mountain Community College at Pendleton and moved to Pilot Rock in 1990. He worked for Louisiana-Pacific from 1990 to 1994.
In 1994, Darren moved back to Unity, where he lived until 1998. He met his wife, Belinda Harrison, in 1998, and they were married on July 17, 1999.
Darren later worked for Fleetwood Travel Trailers of Oregon for 2 years and then for Kinzua at Pilot Rock. In 2001, Darren and Belinda moved to Heppner where he joined the Heppner Volunteer Fire Department, a job that he was very proud of. He owned and operated Heppner Auto Service.
Darren loved sturgeon fishing and any other kind of fishing. He enjoyed hunting and is remembered as being a workaholic. He also enjoyed collecting Coca-Cola memorabilia.
He was a jokester and loved to laugh and to make others laugh. Most of all, he loved his children and spending time with them and his family.
He was a member of the Heppner Fire Department, the Heppner Ambulance team, the Heppner Christian Church and the Unity Volunteer Fire Department.
Survivors include his wife, Belinda Bradford of Heppner; his parents, Joe and Lea Greenwood of Unity and Shirley and Wayne Liles of Pilot Rock; his grandmother, Evelyn Kirk of Toledo, Wash.; stepgrandmother, Dorothy Lorene Bradford of Unity; a son, Logan Bradford of Heppner; daughters, Amanda Bradford of Pilot Rock and Samantha Robbins of Pendleton; brothers, Jeffrey Bradford and his wife, Debbie, of Sweet Water, Tenn., Shawn Greenwood of Huntington and Michael Liles of Pilot Rock, Rob Bradford and Brian Bradford and his wife, Cheryl, all of Unity, Rod Bradford and his wife, Kathy, of Vale, Loyd Harrison and Burt Harrison and his wife, Barb, all of Pilot Rock; sisters, Alice Bradford of New Jersey, Virginia Christian of Baker City and Chessica Liles of Pilot Rock; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his grandfathers, Clifford Clevenger and Roland Bradford; his father, Gail Bradford; and brothers, Mitch and Steve Bradford.
Memorial contributions may be sent directly to Belinda Bradford, P.O. Box 667, Heppner, OR 97836 or to the Heppner Fire Department Darren Bradford Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 743, Heppner, OR 97836.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, September 16, 2005
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor
