Obituary of Joan (Babiarz) Bradley

Joanna Gertrude Babiarz Bradley, aged 86, died peacefully on November 8, 2018 following a brief illness. Joan was born and raised in Peabody, the beloved daughter of the late Michael and Catherine (Gruskowski) Babiarz. She grew up on the family farm, which is where she came by her love of chickens and roosters. She married the love of her life, Eugene Bradley, and together they spent over 40 years having a lot of fun as well as 5 pretty awesome children. Gene passed away in 1995 and was dearly missed every day since. An avid traveler, Joan spent many years exploring tropical locales with Gene and collecting interesting artifacts along the way. After Gene’s passing, she continued her travels and made many adventure filled trips to Europe with her friend Cindy. It is said that they restored the good name of the American traveler throughout the continent. She also had quite a few adventures abroad with her children and other family members. She had an amazing group of girlfriends who she spent time with over the last 60 years. She lunched with the ladies every month, spent time with friends at the senior center, and regularly caught up with her pals while sweating to the oldies with Richard Simmons. Recently she made some wonderful new friends at the Brudnick Center for Living. Her “sister” Minnie was her very best friend in the world. Joan was kind, witty, generous and a joy to be around. She always made sure to tell her family “I love you more.” She will be greatly missed by all that knew her. In Joan’s honor, the Boston Red Sox won the 2018 World Series – Go Sox! She is survived by her adoring children Debra Abraham and husband Douglas of Topsfield, Sheila Micalizzi and husband Robert of Peabody, Kerry Duggan and husband Edward of Lynn, Dennis Bradley of Peabody, Katey Giammatteo and husband John of Middlefield, CT; her beloved grandchildren Dara Abraham, Amanda Abraham and husband Yuma Kanehira, Alyssa Abraham, Alexander Abraham, Robert Micalizzi Jr., Hope Giammatteo, Eric Giammatteo; great-grandchildren Natsumi Kanehira, and Robert Micalizzi III; her brothers and their wives Robert and Sandra Babiarz, and John and Dorothy Babiarz; her sister-in-law Maureen Gargas; her sister-in-law Colleen Kolodziej and husband Thomas; as well as several nieces, nephews and cousins – all of whom she loved from the very bottom of her heart. In addition to her husband Gene, she was pre-deceased by her dear brother Michael. Following cremation, visiting hours will be held November 14 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, Peabody. A funeral service will be held on Thursday, November 15 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Ann’s Church, Peabody. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to The Fisher House http://fisherhouseboston.org/ to assist military families.