Mark Allen Bradley

Obituary For Mark Allen Bradley

Mark Allen Bradley, 68, passed away Monday, December 30, 2024 at his residence in Louisville, KY

Mark was born and raised in Elizabethtown, and was a 1975 graduate of Elizabethtown High School. He was a starter and letterman all four of his high school years in both baseball and football, and his last two years in basketball. In baseball, he helped lead the Panthers to three district championships, two region championships and a state championship his senior year. In his two years of playing basketball, he helped lead the Panthers to district championships both years and a region championship with MVP honors his senior year. (Football did not offer district and region play-offs at this time.) However, his senior year, Mark received All-State team honors in all three sports, carried his team to the state tournament in both basketball and baseball and helped bring home a state baseball championship.

Mark was offered multiple scholarships in both baseball and football and would have been a two sport athlete in college. However, he chose to enter the Baseball Major League Draft and was drafted by the Los Angeles in the first round, 24th overall pick. He played for several years for both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, and was part of the 1981 World Series Championship Dodgers team. The late Dodgers coach Tommy Lasorda once told a family friend that Mark had the fastest bat speed he had ever coached and that the team had nicknamed him “Popeye” due to the size of his forearms.

Mark leaves behind an athletic legacy at Elizabethtown High School and was a member of the first class of inductees into the EHS Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Phyllis Bradley; his maternal grandparents, Mose and Ruth Bradley.

Survivors include his son, Mark Bradley, Jr; his sisters Karen Sparrow, Deanna Truesdale, Sandra Payne, and Tracy Gardner (Robert); his brothers, Larry Bradley, Curtis Bradley, Andre Lackey, Sheldon Lackey (Renee), Dennis Lackey and Michael Lackey; 20 nieces and nephews; 12 great-nieces and nephews; and a host of extended family and friends.

The funeral will be held at 3:00 PM Friday, January 10, 2025 at Percell & Sons Funeral Home. Burial will follow in the Elizabethtown Cemetery.

Visitation from 6:00 to 8:00 PM Thursday, January 9, 2025 at Percell & Sons Funeral Home, Elizabethtown.