Brooks Gayle Bradford

Brooks, Sr. graduated in 1959 from Angleton High School, where he was a football champion and First Team All-State lineman, and in the National Honor Society. He briefly attended San Angelo College, then transferred to the University of Texas, where he joined the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1963.

In 1965, he joined the U.S. Air Force Reserves, attended the University of Texas Law School, and embarked on a wild career path that included life insurance sales and long-term vocations as an investor; a real estate and site developer, especially for franchise operations; a builder of commercial properties, office buildings, shopping centers, and warehouses; a bank director; a manufacturer (of bakery products); the owner of a rental refrigeration services company; and an oil-spill and environmental clean-up contractor in the deserts of Kuwait, the jungles of Ecuador, and other exotic destinations. Eventually, he settled into ownership of a small pipe-foulant removal company, AIMM Technologies (now Hydrokinetics), which he rapidly grew into a unique, highly sought-after global presence with five U.S. offices, strategic partnerships worldwide, and a reputation for using patented sonic technology to solve challenging problems in flow- and heat-transfer issues, onshore and offshore.

Brooks, Sr. was a very big guy with very big ideas and a hearty appetite for taking on very big risks. He’d tackle just about anything. Clean-up oil pits in the Amazon jungle? Sure, why not! Marry the love of his life, despite complications? No question, yes, immediately! Buy a struggling company with a promising patent? Hell, yes! He did everything in a big way, from enjoying good food and company to owning a series of private planes, to attending personally to his loved ones’ health issues.

As he wrote in his ethical will, privately published in his recent memoir, I Said I’d Retire…, “[Although] there’s no other choice but working hard…your primary happiness is your family.” His school of hard knocks for learning to work hard was growing up as the son of a rice farmer and rancher in Texas. In a way, he never stopped being the son of a rice farmer and rancher in Texas. And true to his training, he knew how to get some help when he needed it or didn’t have all the answers.

Brooks, Sr. loved working, but he loved family, friends, sports, and good food even more. He looked forward to his annual Alaska fishing adventures with good friends, taking father-and-son hunting trips, his weekends on Lake Conroe, and visiting friends and family all over the world. He appreciated his wife Sandy’s fabulous culinary skills, which she learned as a model in Paris. He loved hobnobbing with powerful people, as well as hanging out with his employees, and being kind to everyone he met—as long as they were on his team. His political opinions never got in the way of his good relationships with individuals.

He is preceded in death by his beloved wife of 44 years, Sandy Bradford.

He is survived by his grandchildren Kingsley, Leah, Claire, Emily, and Eleanor; his children, Heather Bradford and her husband, Douglas Reedy; Brooks Bradford, Jr. and his wife, Kathy Tapperson Bradford; Brooklyn Bradford and her husband, Christopher Williams; Laura Godfrey; and David Way. He is also survived by his brother, James W. Bradford, Jr., and sister, Annie Laura Fortenberry.

The family would like to thank the following people for their support and compassion over the last 5 years: Dr. Morkas and the Texas Oncology team, DaVita City Center Dialysis, and the entire team at the Belmont Hunters Creek.

Visitation is scheduled for Tuesday, November 15th from 4:30 pm - 7 pm at Royal Oaks Country Club (2910 Royal Oaks Club Dr, Houston, TX 77082).

Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to: Angleton First United Methodist Church (219 H. Arcola St. Angleton, TX - 979-849-6305 - Angletonfumc.org) or Angleton Alumni Association (P.O. Box 122, Angleton, TX 77516).