Bradford N. Eames, 82

Brad Eames never did anything halfway.

Born in Attleboro, MA on August 6, 1943 to Newell Taft Eames and Margery Louise (Bessom) Eames, Brad was raised in his parents' hometown of Mansfield. Soon after he was born, his father left to serve in Germany during WWII. At age 2 ¾ Brad was sent out to help with the family's shopping for the first time: Hoodsie cups for him and his mother, a piece of gum for his aunt Janet, and bread. His mother noted at the time, "He took no note on this errand, got everything perfectly, and came back with change in his pocket."

By 3 ½ he was walking his little sister to their grandmother's house, making sure he was holding her with his left hand. As he explained to his mother, "then Carolyn won't be on the side where the cars can bump her."

When he started school in Mansfield, there were three boxes teachers could check on report cards: good, fair, and poor. Brad's teacher handwrote and underlined "very" in front of "good," and checked that box.

Halfway through second grade, Brad and his family moved to Marion, a town he would serve for decades. He immediately showed there was a new athlete in town by winning the three-legged race at Marion's centennial celebration in 1952. By 1957 he was a strong junior tennis player, playing in the New England Junior Grass Court Championships, and was described by the local paper as "angling cross-court volleys with the precision of a tennis robot."

At the age of 11 he began working at Browne's Pharmacy in Marion, and later at Petersen's Ice cream, where one of his jobs was to use tweezers to select only the most perfect walnuts for Mr. Petersen's maple walnut ice cream. He kept bees for Mr. Hathaway of Marion's General Store, once betting a friend he could put a bee in his mouth without being stung. Skillfully selecting a male drone, knowing they could not sting, he won the bet.

Brad was an Elizabeth Taber Scholar at Tabor Academy and graduated as one of the top students in his class of 1961. Although an excellent tennis player, he chose to play baseball at Tabor, and is the only player for the school to play all nine positions in a season. He was inducted into Tabor's Hall of Fame as a member of their undefeated 1961 basketball team. He hit his first hole-in-one while at Tabor on his sister's birthday. For the rest of their lives, when he called her on her birthday, he wished her a happy anniversary of his hole-in-one.

At Bowdoin College, Brad played baseball and golf, competing on Bowdoin's golf team in the Maine College Championships his senior year. He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity where he served as treasurer, secretary, and vice president. He became lifelong friends with his roommates from the "Deek House," where a piano may or may not have been rolled off a balcony during their time there.

Also at Bowdoin, he was the top ROTC cadet in his class and named commanding officer of Bowdoin's company. He was a finalist in the Hiland Lockwood Fairbanks public speaking contest.

Brad was commissioned as a lieutenant in the US Army upon graduation. His company disembarked from California headed for Japan in the fall of 1966, but was re-routed to a new conflict that was brewing in Vietnam. Upon arrival, Brad was sent on a reconnaissance mission and became the first American soldier to cross into North Vietnam.

He received two bronze stars while in Vietnam. The first was for heroic service, saving American lives. His company was under heavy mortar fire. To defend their position, Brad calculated the precise trajectory and direction for the American howitzers, then sprinted up an unprotected hill, mortar fire falling around him. He would yell out the coordinates, dive back into a bunker to calculate for the next gun, and then charge back out. He executed this time and again, each calculation perfect, his communication clear, until the enemy guns stopped.

His second bronze star was for meritorious service for the incredible accuracy of his A Battery, 1st Battalion, 40th Field Artillery. They fired over 20,000 rounds for a year without an error. He was proud that marine units fighting in the field specifically requested his company for support. Upon learning of his death, his captain Luis Lopez, who Brad held in the highest regard, called him his brother in arms, and a "soldier's soldier."

In 2022, Brad was honored for his service in Vietnam with a Quilt of Valor by the national Quilt of Valor Foundation through its local chapter in Ft. Myers, FL, the Seven Lakes Piecemakers.

Returning to Marion after the war, he now could serve his community. He volunteered as the scout master for Marion's Boy Scouts Troop 32, mentoring several boys to become Eagle Scouts. He coached baseball, served on several local bank boards, marched in the town's Fourth of July parades, was a deacon at the Congregational Church, and was a founding board member of the Wareham YMCA. When the Y first opened, he shot 100 basketball free throws daily and within months he was shooting the 80% he did in high school. When he retired after 41 years as an assessor for the town of Marion, he was the longest continuously elected official in Massachusetts.

He was the owner of Eames Insurance, where he prioritized finding fair prices for policies that matched his clients' needs. He raised money for Tabor Academy, engaging the highest percentage of his classmates of any class for many years. He taught classes at Tabor about his time in Vietnam, sharing his experience with a new generation.

He served in every possible volunteer role at the Kittansett Club, including president. He hit a few more holes-in-one (totalling 5 in his lifetime), won several tournaments, represented Kittansett at tournaments at other clubs, played in parent-child tournaments with his children, was named Golf Digest Magazine's most improved golfer in Massachusetts twice, and in 2025 was honored with the club's first Stackpole Award for exemplary and longstanding lifetime service, the club's highest honor.

He taught his two children how to throw a baseball, dig quahogs with their feet, and why compound interest was important. He loved watching his children's and grandchildren's sports, rarely missing a game.

A true patriot, he erected a flagpole at each house his family lived in, and taught his children how to properly raise and lower a flag. When the Vietnam Veterans Memorial first opened in Washington DC, he took his family to see it. Following his wedding in December of 1971, he took his new wife to our nation's capital for their honeymoon. He always wore a pin of the American flag on his lapel.

Once they had children, he wanted to show them the United States, and they took family vacations, largely driving, with down-to-the-minute itineraries. Vacations were about squeezing in as many sites as possible. One time the family visited Devil's Tower in northeastern Wyoming, which was several hours out of the way. His kids took pictures with their film cameras, and it was time to get back in the car. But they have those pictures to this day.

With a quirky sense of humor, he once built a giant snow sculpture of Auguste Rodin's The Thinker in their front yard, but instead of The Thinker sitting on a rock, he sat on a giant snow toilet. His children thought this was hilarious, but they were not sure what their mother thought of the spectacle in their yard.

A Red Sox fan, he held season tickets for many years, and once took his teenage son and his son's friend on a trip throughout the US to watch games in different ballparks. A Celtics fan, when the family helped nurse an injured robin back to health, they named it Larry Bird.

Brad Eames passed away on July 31, 2026. He leaves a rare legacy of service and dedication. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Lorna (Waddington) Eames of Marion, MA and Ft. Myers, FL; his daughter Jennifer Eames and her partner Ashley Sadler of Marion; his son Tristan Bradford Eames of Talkeetna, Alaska; his sister, Carolyn Margery Eames of Marion; and his grandsons, Grayson Bradford Eames and Beckham Leo Sadler of Marion. He was predeceased by his parents and his brother Kendall Edward Eames, whose ring Brad wore until his death.

Brad was a true lover of books, once having a golden retriever he named Call Me Ishmael. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be made to the Elizabeth Taber Library, 8 Spring Street, Marion, MA 02738 with Friends Donation for Brad in the memo line.

A celebration of his life will be held at the Kittansett Club, 11 Point Road in Marion, on Sunday, October 4th from 2-4 PM that all are welcome to attend. Interment at Old Landing Cemetery in Marion will be private.