DELPHOS — From year to year, the Tri-county Woman of the Year is hailed for her community involvement, volunteerism and values. Though this year’s special lady exhibits those things and more, she also stands out because of how she is regarded by a former recipient of the designation.
Teresa Bradstock is involved with many local organizations, placing special focus on community history and veterans’ activities. She works with former Tri-county Woman of the Year Dorothy Hoffman at the Delphos Canal Commission.
“She has a great big heart. She’s willing to help anybody and enjoys being around people. She is one of our trustees and is also our secretary and is very involved — from our Christmas Tree Festival to the elevator campaign. Whenever there’s something going on, she’s there to lend a hand,” Hoffman said.
Bradstock was born and raised in Delphos. A member of the St. John’s High School Class of 1968, the 58-year-old followed her family’s path of community involvement and military service.
Her father served on City Council for many years and she worked for the city after continuing her family’s heritage of military service.
Her paternal grandfather served in World War I and her father served in World War II. Bradstock joined the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and served a three-year enlistment.
After basic training, she attended intelligence school in Baltimore for two years, then went to Washington, D.C., for a year before being discharged and returning to Delphos. She credits her time in the military with introducing her to the world but it was her community’s values that kept her safe while in it.
“I was raised really, really well. I was taught right from wrong. I came of age in the late ’60s but didn’t go overboard because of my background. I saw all the good things of the counterculture but I kept my distance because I didn’t want to be on the other side of the law. I enjoyed it without becoming involved with the bad side of things and enjoyed the freedom, which had been there all along, without confusing it with license,” she said.
Bradstock points primarily to her family for her formation. She has five sisters and one brother, who suffered from polio. She credits defending him if teased by other children as teaching her to implement the values learned at home.
Bradstock worked for the City of Delphos as an administrative assistant for approximately one year before she moved back to Baltimore to room with a friend from the Army. She attended a community college and went to work at a drug store, having worked at the former Stallkamp Drugs while in high school. She met her late husband, Brad, at the Baltimore drug store where he was a pharmacist. During this time, her father purchased Stallkamp’s so when the time was right, the couple came home to help Bradstock’s father operate the local store. It was 1978 and she remembers the cold greeting they received from “old man winter.”
“We were driving across Pennsylvania when Brad asked me if it snows much here. I told him ‘not that much.’ We got here just in time for the blizzard and didn’t see the ground until March. We lived on Fourth Street and the drifts were unbelievable. We could hardly walk to work but we made it through,” she said.
Bradstock relocated before finishing her degree but took some business courses at Northwestern Business College in Lima while managing Stallkamp’s. This is when her thirst for community involvement began to develop due to the store’s membership with the Delphos Area Chamber of Commerce. Being an idle member was not “in her blood.” However, hardship and transition would be her pathway to expanded volunteerism.
“We were busy at the store for years and years. We changed locations and opened a second store in Ottoville in 1985 but I always went to chamber meetings. I loved working with the chamber. We were able to get involved in many aspects, network with others and learn so many things, she said.
“I was busy at the store seven days a week, so I couldn’t do a lot of volunteer work. Dad died in 2000 when Brad was 70 years old. He didn’t want to take ownership of the store and he was starting to have some circulatory problems. He had a stroke in December 2000 and we sold the store. He died in August 2001.”
When the time came for Bradstock to move ahead, her support system of family and friends began extending invitations.
“I had friends to visit and babysit for but Brad had always wanted to be involved with the Canal Commission. So, I did that and then, it was just one thing after another. I got involved and loved it. Everything I do is fun. I learn things; I associate with good people and get thrown in to situations I find out I can handle. Volunteering is very rewarding. I found out early that life is about the people you love and how you treat them. When you help people, they help you in return,” she said.
As a child, Bradstock grew up skating on the Miami and Erie Canal whenever the channel was frozen. As a result of this and her continued involvement with the Canal Commission, she cares very much to preserve her community’s history by keeping it fresh in residents’ awareness. She does this by being involved with the Delphos Rotary Club Senior Walking Tour.
The annual tours give high school seniors a hands-on education in local history. Organizer JoAn Smith says Bradstock has been a vital link between the tour and the museum.
“She has been instrumental in us getting in to the Canal Commission Museum and this year, she served as a tour guide. She is very helpful in getting me pictures and information to share with students,” she said.
Another community value coursing through Bradstock’s veins is patriotism. Bradstock is a member of the Delphos Veterans Council and served on the committee responsible for the landscape at Fifth and Main streets.
“I got on the veteran’s council when Larry Luersman and Don Gerdeman started talking about building the veterans memorial, so I got on the committee. That was very exciting and look at how beautiful it is! I have always had an appreciation for those who served, going all the way back to the Revolutionary War because I was raised to believe in serving our country. That’s why it was easy for me to do it myself, though they didn’t send women in to combat zones during the Vietnam War,” she said.
Luersman remembers Bradstock’s commitment to the project.
“She gave 100 percent of her input and very diligently committed herself to the cause. We all put our heads together and she was a big part of it,” he said.
Bradstock has also been involved with organizing Old Fashioned Canal Days festivals, canal cleanup efforts, the postal museum and the Inter-faith Thrift Shop. She also serves meals at Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen in Lima with a group from Trinity United Methodist Church and she offers prayer support for the local Upward Basketball and Cheerleading program.
Whenever praised for the values she exhibits, Bradstock returns all credit to the influential people around her.
“I have met the best people; they’re my role models. I have been very lucky to have good role models in my family, the church and throughout the community. I am blessed,” she said.