Mona Faye Bradfield Samuels' Obituary
Mona Faye (Bradfield) Samuels, 85, died peacefully at 5:12 a.m. Wednesday, July 23, 2014, at Clare Bridge of West Melbourne (Florida) memory care facility.
Born to Charles Anson and Reba Gertrude (Abell) Bradfield on April 10, 1929, in Bridgeport, Illinois, she was the fourth of five children.
Mona leaves behind her devoted husband of 46 years, Dr. Hiemie “Sam” Samuels, formerly of Gainesville, Florida, and currently of Melbourne, and three children: Jeanne (Bail) Buschbach of Manassas, Virginia; Cindy (Bail) Tanner of Philadelphia, Tennessee; and Mason Samuels of Melbourne. She also leaves a daughter-in-law, Diana Samuels, who painstakingly attended to her needs at Clare Bridge in the final months.
She is survived by six grandchildren: Thomas Justin “TJ” Buschbach of Kenner, Louisiana; Rachel Buschbach of Warrenton, Virginia; Andrew Buschbach of Pensacola, Florida; and Naomi Villa and Nia and Tyler Samuels, all of Melbourne. She is also survived by four great-grandchildren: Sofie, Eli, Jacob, and Elly Buschbach.
One sister, Bonnie Jean “Boots” Kearns of Dugger, Indiana, survives. Mona was preceded in death by her parents; a brother, Allen Bradfield of Vincennes, Indiana; and two sisters, Janet Combs of Lyons, Indiana, and Hilda Withey of Sonoma, California.
Mona earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of South Florida in the late 1970s. She and her husband ran a private internal medicine practice for many years, first in Punta Gorda, Florida, then in Sarasota. In Gainesville, she taught nursing classes at Santa Fe Community College and worked as a triage nurse for the health department. Her compassion for patients also led to her to volunteer as a hospice nurse. She was highly respected by her peers for her conscientiousness, and she was well loved by both patients and students for her empathy and insight.
Before marrying Dr. Samuels, Mona was a longtime resident of Champaign, Illinois, where she worked in the offices of several top administrators at the University of Illinois.
A graveside service will be held Saturday, July 26, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. in Memorial Park Central, 4100 NW 39 Avenue, with Dr. Don McGarity officiating. Arrangements are under the care of WILLIAMS-THOMAS FUNERAL HOME DOWNTOWN, 404 North Main Street.
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