Obituary of Bradley Everitt

Everitt: Bradley Alexander -

Life of a loving legend:

When Bradley Alexander Everitt’s mother Edna first discovered that she was pregnant with him at 46 years of age, it is said that she cried for days, though after he was born on April 28th,1957 she credited his love of life and laughter as keeping her young for decades. The same is true for everyone who heard that laugh, and who had the immense pleasure of his company. So it is with great sadness that we announce his passing, at the age of 67, after a courageous battle with cancer. He lived to the last, as he always had, surrounded by family and friends.

Brad spent his early years on the family farm in Ridgetown, but those corn rows couldn’t long contain his irrepressible spirit. The tragic death of his beloved young son Justin in 1981 reinforced his belief that one must live life as fully as one can while one can, and if he was always late - his Kitchen Saver truck with the license plate IAM LAYT was a fixture on Chatham streets for decades - it was because he was determined to pack so much in. And he did so, alongside his adored wife Annette (Netty, nee Howe), who gave new meaning to the term soulmate; as a proud father to his equally irrepressible daughters Jessica and Katie, and to his son Shawn Kelly; as father-in-law to sons-in-law Derek Montgomery and Edray Baptiste; as a playful Papa to grandkids Layla, Peighton, and Beckam (and "granddogs" Bruno and Scout); brother of Lyn Rion (Bill ), Virgina Stevenson, Sandra Swayze and Larry Keenan, and brother-in-law to Brenda Everitt, Garfield (Suzette) and Mitch (Carol) Howe, and son-in law to Marion Hopman. He loved anything with a motor, the louder the better, especially boating on EVERETTIE in the summer and cruising on his Harley; spending his summer weekends at his cottage in Lighthouse Cove, and his winters with Netty and among friends in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Yet, somehow, despite constantly being here, there, and everywhere, as friends and family can attest, he was always around when you needed him.

At the end of many of the parties he threw throughout his too short but very full life, he’d often tell stragglers “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.” Though he is no longer here to party alongside us, we have little doubt that he is up there raising a scotch, or eating Hot and Sour Soup or Taco Bell and an Apple Fritter, with those beloved family and friends who had passed before him, like his son Justin, his older brother Andrew (Andy), and son-in-law Edray. If you’re so inclined, please raise your own scotch in his general direction to salute a life well-and-fully lived. Family and friends are invited to join us this coming Friday, August 2, 2024, between 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. for Memorial visitation at McKinlay Funeral Home, 459 St. Clair Street Chatham, Ontario.

Memorial donations to honour Brad's life can be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or Chatham-Kent Hospice would be appreciated by he family.

Online condolences may be left at www.mckinlayfuneralhome.com

McKinlay Funeral Home

459 St. Clair Street, Chatham

519-351-2040