With five generations, nearly three-dozen family members and close to 50 degrees—and counting—the Bradley and Webster families represent a true legacy of perseverance, education and Orange pride. Their story is not only one of academic achievement but of commitment to service, compassion and community—core values that continue to shape each new generation of Syracuse graduates.
The Websters: A Family of Grit and Determination
In August 1895, Syracuse University Chancellor James Roscoe Day responded to a scholarship request from local resident Frederick Webster.
“I will give you a scholarship the first year and we will see how you get on—shall help you all I can,” Day wrote in a letter. “Grit counts most.”
Webster lived up to that grit. He graduated in 1899 and launched a successful career as an educator. Of his eight children, five earned Syracuse degrees, including three daughters. By 1929, an Alumni News article credited the family for holding the “record for the largest group of sons and daughters of a Syracuse alumnus.”
The Bradleys: A Family Dedicated to Education and Public Service
The Rev. William Bradley and his wife, Margaret, lived in Syracuse and all six of their children earned degrees from Syracuse University.
Decades later, another Syracuse family was growing its own legacy. The Rev. William Bradley, a Methodist minister, encouraged his three sons and three daughters to attend Syracuse. Because of the University’s Methodist affiliation at the time, they would receive reduced tuition as the children of a Methodist minister. As older siblings graduated and began their careers, they helped fund the younger ones’ tuition. Education, service and Syracuse loyalty became a way of life.
A Fifth Generation Walks the Quad
Juliana Webster G’25 shares a moment with her grandfather, Donald Webster ’59, who inspired her to attend Syracuse University as a graduate student.
This spring, Juliana Webster G’25 became the 35th member of the combined Bradley and Webster families to graduate from Syracuse University. She earned a master’s degree in social work, proudly carrying forward a family legacy that began 130 years prior.
Donald Webster and Patricia Bradley Webster don caps and gowns for their Commencement in 1959.
Juliana’s paternal grandparents, Donald Webster ’59 and the late Patricia Bradley Webster ’59, connected the two families. Juliana was inspired by her grandparents to study at Syracuse and fondly remembers a campus visit with her grandfather. “We walked around together, and it was really special because we went to Crouse College, which is where Pop went—and it felt like home immediately,” she said.
Between them, the two families now hold 46 degrees from Syracuse University, SUNY ESF and SUNY Upstate Medical University and former affiliated partner Utica University.
Celebrating Orange Ties
Members of the Bradley and Webster families gathered in Crouse College during their July visit to campus. Pictured (left to right): Teresa Bradley Mosher ’89, Marcia Bradley Hekking ’61, Heather Bradley McEvoy G’06 and her children Sierra, Sawyer and Sage, Rick and Sherry Webster P’25, Charles “Chip” Bradley G’75, Mary Lynne and Donald Webster ’59, Juliana Webster G’25 and A. Paul Bradley Jr. P’89.
In July, 14 members of the two families returned to campus to celebrate their shared history. They recalled family memories and stories, discussed their careers in education and public service, talked about their diehard allegiance to Orange sports and reflected on how women in both families earned degrees—including advanced ones—at a time when it wasn’t common. “There’s this theme in both families of service, inclusivity, acceptance and compassion,” says Rick Webster P’25, Juliana’s father. “Both of these families are accepting of everybody and helping those in need—it’s a tremendous commonality.”
Committed to Public Education
Teresa Bradley Mosher ’89 at Commencement with grandparents Meda Vandenberg (left), Allan Bradley and Jo An Booth Bradley.
Allan Paul Bradley, pictured in 1979, earned three degrees from Syracuse, including a doctorate in education, and devoted his career to public education in New York state.
The Rev. Bradley’s son Allan ’33, G’37, G’51 earned three degrees, including a doctorate in education, and met his future wife, Helen Jones Bradley ’34, G’39, at Earlville (N.Y.) high school, where they taught history and math, respectively. Allan capped off a long career in New York state public education retiring as executive assistant and chief of staff to the commissioner of education.
Although their family moved often, Syracuse was always a central focus. Their son A. Paul Bradley Jr. P’89 remembers attending basketball and football games and family events. His daughter, Teresa Bradley Mosher ’89, ran hurdles, rowed crew and majored in textile design. “Anytime the family got together, it was all talk about Syracuse,” she recalled.
An Affinity for the Maxwell School
Charles “Chip” Bradley G’75 visits the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs with his daughter, Heather Bradley McEvoy G’06, and grandchildren Sage and Sierra.
Charles “Chip” Bradley G’75 dedicated his career to the human services field and credits the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs’ Master of Public Administration program for shaping his worldview.
“One of the best things Maxwell prepared me for was to keep an open mind,” he said, also vividly recalling the Watergate hearings, which he watched with classmates in the student lounge. “It was remarkable in terms of what that did for my intellectual and ethical development.”
His daughter, Heather Bradley McEvoy G’06, earned a master’s from SUNY ESF, continuing the legacy.
Stories That Stick
Marcia Bradley Hekking ’61 enjoyed her time at Syracuse University and, like her parents, became an educator.
Despite their mother’s love of math, both Chip and his sister Marcia Bradley Hekking ’61 disliked statistics. Chip salvaged a B after a rough start, and Marcia went on to become a school administrator. She recalled her sister Pat encouraging her to attend the freshman mixer. “I did and I met the man I later married,” she said.
Marcia participated in synchronized swimming, celebrated the 1959 national football championship and worked in the football players’ dining room. “I was the one who served the ice cream, so I was very popular,” she laughed.
A Hendricks Wedding
Wesley Bradley ’44, G’46 and Barbara Sawyer ’46 attended the University during World War II. As part of the war effort, Barbara worked as an experimental engine tester at a Republic Aviation plant in New Jersey the summer before their marriage.
Barbara Sawyer Bradley ’46, the oldest living member of the two families at 100, experienced campus life during World War II. She married Dr. Wesley Bradley ’44, G’46 in 1945 in Hendricks Chapel—a favorite family wedding venue—and Marcia and Pat were flower girls.
Dr. Bradley eventually established a medical practice in Syracuse, where they raised four sons—James G’74, G’79, Bill, Doug ’78 and David P’05, whose daughter, Emily Bradley Doherty ’05, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in interior design.
Musical Notes and a Flaming Baton Twirl
Donald Webster ’59 studies photographs of the Syracuse University Marching Band, which he performed with during his college days.
Donald Webster, Julianna’s grandfather, was a talented musician who played the oboe and performed with the Syracuse Orchestra, including once with renowned composer Aaron Copland. A member of the Glee Club and marching band, he counts playing with the band in the 1957 Cotton Bowl among his favorite memories.
Known as “100 Men and a Girl,” the band featured drum majorette and champion baton twirler Alta Burg, and Don remembers one of his friends borrowing Burg’s flaming baton and tossing it around in the air one night in the backyard of their fraternity house.
Graduation Gratitude
Donald Webster ’59 wears the gratitude stole that Juliana Webster G’25 gave to him at Commencement 2025.
Several family members attended Commencement 2025 to see Juliana graduate. In her grandfather’s honor, she presented him a gratitude stole. “Your love and support have always been my anchor in school and in life,” she wrote on the stole. “I didn’t know when or how, but I held onto that dream knowing I one day would walk the same campus as you and Grandma Pat did. This stole carries all the love, strength and hope you’ve given me.”
