Vincent Brady, speaking before a Jan. 6 Memorial Mass at St. Rose of Lima Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, for his mother, Jean Brady, noted the “competitive fire” that she had when playing games like Scrabble and Boggle and when competing in swimming as a senior citizen where she won more than 20 medals in the National Senior Games. Her deep Catholic faith and that competitive spirit also guided her in her outreach to the elderly and poor and others in need, he said.
“Her bargaining skills and competitive fire when playing games that we laugh about, shone in her relentless pursuit of social justice,” Vincent Brady said in his words of remembrance.
Jean Brady died on Nov. 23, 2022 at the age of 88 after being diagnosed with cancer. Jack Brady, her husband of 55 years, died in 2013, and they are survived by seven children and 14 grandchildren.
“Mom was ready. Mom was thankful for a life well lived. Mom was completely at peace,” Vincent Brady said.
One of Jean Brady’s proudest accomplishments was when, as a housewife and active volunteer at St. Mary’s Parish in Rockville and community activist, she played a key role in the establishment of Mary’s House, an assisted living facility for 15 frail elderly residents that was founded in 1985 by Victory Housing in vacant convent space on the second floor of the parish’s school. St. Mary’s Parish donated the space and parish volunteers helped renovate the residence. It opened with funding support from Montgomery County, the state of Maryland and the city of Rockville. As an assisted living facility, Mary’s House served senior citizens who could no longer live alone, but instead of living in a nursing home, they received help with meals and laundry services, supervision of their medication, and staff support.
“None of us had any experience in what were doing,” Jean Brady later said of the effort to establish Mary’s House. “We didn’t know we couldn’t do that. We kept charging ahead.”
In 1989, Victory Housing became the nonprofit housing development arm of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, and in that program’s early years, Jean Brady served as its executive director, helping it plan assisted living facilities at parishes and other properties at a time when the assisted living concept was a new idea in Maryland and hadn’t yet caught on across the country. Mary’s House set a template for Victory Housing, which worked with church, government and community partners in expanding housing opportunities for the elderly.
In 1990, President George Bush named the home as a “Point of Light,” a White House award spotlighting programs marked by outstanding community cooperation and volunteerism.
When Mary’s House was named as a “Point of Light,” Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski sent a letter to Jean Brady, saying, “Your hard work and dedication to the growing population of frail elderly demonstrates a genuine caring that has made Marylanders proud. The commitment that you have demonstrated is a shining example of the spirit of volunteerism in our state and a model for us all.”
Mary’s House later closed, but Victory Housing – the nonprofit housing development arm of the Archdiocese of Washington – continues to operate six assisted living facilities for the elderly in Maryland, at Bartholomew House at St. Bartholomew Parish in Bethesda; at Byron House at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Potomac; at Raphael House at St. Raphael Parish in Rockville; at Grace House in Silver Spring; Malta House in Hyattsville; and at Marian Assisted Living in Olney. Victory Housing now owns and oversees 37 communities providing 2,812 units of rental housing in the archdiocese. In addition to its assisted living facilities, Victory Housing also provides affordable housing to low and moderate income independent seniors and families.
Victory Housing had been founded by Msgr. Ralph Kuehner, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington who taught Scriptures and dedicated his life to bringing the Gospel to action. Msgr. Kuehner, who died in 2017 at the age of 93, helped found SOME, the So Others Might Eat soup kitchen that now provides comprehensive services to the poor; and he also worked with other religious leaders in founding the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington. The priest was a friend and mentor to Jean Brady, who worked with him in his efforts to serve the elderly, the poor and in his work with people of other faiths.
At Jean Brady’s Memorial Mass, Vincent Brady said his mother by her life of service to those in need demonstrated the adage attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel, use words if necessary.”
“For almost 20 years, Mom coordinated meals for SOME, So Others Might Eat. She secured the site for the Rockville Senior Center which had been an empty elementary school,” he said. “A strong believer in giving alms during Lent, she coordinated the Lenten Supper Mass at St. Mary’s Church. For more than 20 years, she brought in charities, irrespective of faith, to share their missions, and they would then receive the money collected at the Masses.”
In addition to being a leader with the Camp Maria family retreat program, Jean Brady from 1982-83 served as executive director of Catholics Concerned for the Elderly, promoting programs for the elderly in churches in the archdiocese. Brady also served on the elderly committee of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington. In 1985, she received an award from the archdiocese’s Catholic Charities for her service.
After leaving Victory Housing, Jean Brady worked with the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, identifying faith communities that could sponsor housing for poor families, the developmentally disabled, the mentally ill and the frail elderly.
In 2015, Jean Brady received an Achievement Award from Montgomery County for her lifelong commitment to social issues that included affordable senior housing, homelessness, feeding the hungry, mental health, disability rights, immigration, employment, prison ministry, anti-poverty initiatives and violence prevention.
The main celebrant at her Memorial Mass was Franciscan Father Christopher Keenan, whose ministries in his more than five decades as a priest included serving as chaplain of the Fire Department of New York after 9/11, and service to the homeless, the unemployed and those suffering from addictions. Several other priests who were also friends of Jean Brady and her family concelebrated the Mass. Her family members did the readings at the Mass and brought up the offertory gifts.
In his homily, Father Keenan said, “Jean lived a faith that does justice.”
An obituary of Jean Brady prepared for by her family noted that she liked to call herself “a little girl from Johnson City, New York with only a high school degree,” and she also liked to joke that as a volunteer, nobody cared if you have a college degree.
Jean and Jack Brady are survived by their children: Mary Beth Brady of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Shannon Brady of Rockville, Maryland; Jack Brady (Abbie) of Rockville; Jeanne Saum (Jack) of Arnold, Maryland; Sheila Thomas (Chris) of Darnestown, Maryland; Vincent Brady of Atlanta; and Molly Brady (Stephen Faublas) of Chicago, and by their grandchildren Matthew Brady, Ambrose Brady Bickett, Theodore Brady Bicket, Molly Saum, Maggie Brady, Jack Thomas, Paul Saum, Tim Thomas, Charlie Thomas, Grace Brady, Kate Thomas, Luke Brady, and Holly Jean Brady. She is also survived by her sister Mary Shay of Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Jean Brady was predeceased by her parents Anna Rita and Ambrose Aloysius King in Binghamton, New York; by her siblings Kathryn Michalovic, John King, Ann Hood, and Gerard King; and by her and Jack’s daughter Maria who died moments after her birth.
Donations in memory of Jean Brady may be made to the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless.
