Bradley “Brad” William Popejoy, Sr. passed away at age 72 on Sunday, November 20, 2022. Brad was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on February 6, 1950. As a young boy, Brad and his brother grew up loving baseball including their mother, Gwen’s, favorite team the New York Yankees. In the years of the M & M boys, Oklahoma’s own Mickey Mantle was Brad’s childhood hero. Brad played a Hofner bass for the band, The New Imperials in 1965 and later the band, Front Page News which released the 45-record single called “You Better Behave” on Dial Records distributed by Atlantic Record Sales. In 1968, he graduated from Memorial High School in Tulsa and later enjoyed being the MC at high school reunions.
Along with being a baseball fan and huge sports fan, Brad enjoyed playing softball and racquetball for many years. He also loved coaching soccer for his children Sarah and Billy. Brad also loved art and was an extremely talented painter with a unique style that was a cross between surrealism and impressionism. One of Brad’s favorite places to visit in Tulsa with family and friends was the Philbrook Museum of Art.
Early in his career, Brad worked as a manager for Radio Shack. Later, he would go to work as a realtor at his father’s company Ken Popejoy Realtors in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Brad later sold advertising for radio stations including KMOD. Returning to real estate he worked and later retired from McGraw Realtors. Brad was a proud recipient of the Paul Harris Award by the Rotary Club in Tulsa. Brad also starred in local commercials including those for Renberg’s Clothing Co.
Brad was best known for his sense of humor, love for his fellow man, and turning complete strangers into friends. Brad is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Douglas and Karen Popejoy; son, Bradley Popejoy, Jr.; daughter and her wife, Sarah and Kim Jackson; son and daughter-in-law, William and Amanda Popejoy; granddaughter and her husband, Alyssa and Matthew Curtis; granddaughter, Sophie Popejoy; and grandson, Benjamin Popejoy. Brad was preceded in death by parents, Kenneth Popejoy and Gwendolyn Popejoy Bonnell; stepfather, Robert A. Bonnell, Jr.; and sister, Judith Popejoy Redford.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 13
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance… …13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Influenced lyrically by songwriters like Ani Difranco and Dar Williams, Sarah Popejoy’s folk introspection mixed with activism are the key ingredients that fuel her writing. At the same time, Sarah’s sound gravitates to the dirty, country blues akin to Lucinda Williams. Born into a musical family her father Brad Popejoy played bass guitar for a band called Front Page News released on Dial Records, while her Grandmother, Gwen Popejoy Bonnell, was part of a successful singing trio that toured Oklahoma in her younger years. With two studio albums recorded in Nashville under her belt, Sarah is no stranger to recording and producing. Her extensive touring credits include performances at Cambridge’s Club Passim’s Cutting Edge of the Campfire, Blue Bird’s Sunday Showcases, and opening for Debbie Campbell at her Summer’s Fifth night in front of a crowd of over 10,000 people. She has made appearances on BBC News, American Songwriter Magazine as a lyric contest honorable mention winner, her song "Father's Love for His Son" was talked about in Dar Williams latest book Writing a Song that Matters. Moving back home to Tulsa, what Rolling Stone calls the next Austin, Sarah is producing her 3rd studio album called “The Oklahoma Storyteller”, set to release at the beginning of 2024.