Zena Anne Free Bradford

Zena Anne Free Bradford , age 70 of Sandy Springs, GA died peacefully Tuesday, March 15th at Emory-St Joseph hospital.

Zena was raised in Leighton, Alabama where she was a majorette in the high school marching band. She was also in a Girl Scout troop which, in a town this small, doubled as a social club. These ten girls became like sisters through their pre-teen and teen years. Later she attended Auburn University and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences. She was a dedicated member of the Tri Delta Sorority .

She was married to the love of her life, Billy George Bradford, in 1966. The couple lived for a brief period in Irving, Texas where Zena taught elementary school . They moved to Atlanta in 1967 where they raised their two children, Blake and Lily. In the early years of their marriage, she and her husband endured the nomadic lifestyle of buying homes, fixing them up and selling them. Finally, in 1975, they moved to the River Chase Subdivision and settled in for the next 36 years. It was a loving homestead and she made lots of dear friends.

Zena was a devoted and loving mother. She was very proud of her children and her favorite times were spent with her four grandchildren Isabel, Gray, Coco and Clark who called her “Granna.”

She enjoyed the beauty of wildflowers and gardens and was a member of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. She loved books, was a voracious reader and especially enjoyed her book club for 32 years. She was considered the queen of dry wit for her comments.

She was an avid and lifelong liberal and supporter of Civil Rights in a changing South during the years of difficult transition. She was a person of high integrity and stood up for the causes she believed in.

Her adventures with her husband took her fishing in Alaska, touring in France, roaming the hills of Scotland and puttering up the Etowah river in a small inflatable boat. She always viewed life as an adventure.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, March 20th at Sandy Springs Christian Church at 301 Johnson Ferry Road NW at 2:00 PM. A visitation for friends and family will begin at 1:00 PM.