By Norma Adams-Wade, Founding Member of the National Association of Black Journalists and Texas Metro News Columnist

Fannie Mae Miles Bradford, at 89, has experienced more in her lifetime than many of the government officials who are advising us about our lives today.

Born December 15, 1930, the Dallas native lived through World War II, the Korean War, Viet Nam War, Civil Rights conflicts, news of various assassinations including President John Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., polio epidemic, Ebola, HIV/AIDS outbreak, 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the Columbia space shuttle disaster.

Mrs. Bradford, a retired Dallas schoolteacher and long-time minister’s wife, said it was faith and common sense that sustained her through it all and, if her Maker wills it, she expects that approach to carry her on, even through coronavirus.

She was “First Lady” and director of various ministries and her late husband, Rev. Bishop J. Bradford Jr., was Pastor for more than 40 years at Mt. Horeb Baptist Church at 3306 Carpenter Ave. in South Dallas/Fair Park.

After living for many decades in a spacious home near Ledbetter Dr. in Southern Dallas, the former president of Metropolitan Baptist Ministers Wives & Widows Union in Dallas moved to the senior home where she has become a popular resident.