Nattalie Dodge - Bradley

NATTALIE RUVERN DODGE BRADLEY

Nattalie Ruvern Dodge Bradley died in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Saturday, October 1, 2011 at age 85. She had Alzheimer's disease. The daughter of Natt N. Dodge, and Mildred "Hap" Dodge, Nattalie was born in Seattle, Washington. Her father became a seasonal ranger at Mt. Rainier, and after taking the Civil Service Exam, joined the National Park Service. The family moved to Grand Canyon where she met her future husband, Zorro Bradley, in school in her mother's kitchen tent on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The family moved to Coolidge, Arizona to be at Casa Grande National Monument, and then to Santa Fe, New Mexico where Nattalie graduated from high school in 1944. While in Santa Fe she played the piano with various dance bands including the famous Billy Palou's orchestra at La Fonda Hotel. She also helped entertain troops at the old Bruns Hospital where she was known for her boogie-woogie performances.

Nattalie attended the University of Colorado in Boulder where she majored in Chemistry, with minors in Mathematics and Physics. She was the University champion in the sport of horseshoes. After graduation in 1947, she worked as a physicist at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, specifically with Dr. Edward Teller, on the triggering mechanisms for nuclear weapons. On Thanksgiving, 1948, she married Zorro Allen Bradley, a WW II veteran who had been a combat infantryman with the 100th Infantry Division in France and Germany. At the time of their marriage Zorro was a student in archeology at the University of New Mexico. She transferred to Sandia Secret Weapons Base in Albuquerque while he continued his studies. He was recalled to active duty with the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea, served his tour, returned to his studies. After he graduated in 1953, and joined the National Park Service, Nattalie "retired" from the labs and became a Park Service spouse. She moved with Zorro as he was assigned to Wupatki and Tuzigoot National Monuments and Canyon de Chelly in Arizona, Mesa Verde in Colorado, Santa Fe's Regional Park Service office and Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Russell Cave National Monument in Bridgeport, Alabama, and Washington, DC, as archeologist in the headquarters of the National Park Service. Their last move was to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1972. In Fairbanks, Nattalie hosted many social functions for newcomers and visitors to the state including professors at the University of Alaska and archeologists from the Soviet Union. She enjoyed the extremes of the climate, handling a team of sled dogs in the winters and growing marvelous flower and vegetable gardens in the summers. She also collected Native American beadwork and enjoyed photography.

Nattalie was predeceased by her husband (February 14, 2010), and leaves behind two children, Martin Zorro Bradley of Fairbanks, and Patricia Arilda Colbourne of Quesnel, BC, Canada, and four grandchildren, Valerie Weber, Vancouver, BC; Robert Colbourne, Victoria, BC; Alexander Colbourne, Kelowna, BC; Ariella Derrickson of Fairbanks; there are four great grand childrend: Malachi, Arianne, Xian, and Gisele Derrickson of Fairbanks. Her siblings, Griffin N. Dodge and his wife, Lynn, of Santa Fe, and Judith C. Dodge of Washington, DC, also survive Nattalie. Cremation of both Nattalie and Zorro has taken place; their remains will be interred at the U. S. National Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, date and time to be announced.