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By Karen Pearlman
December 31, 2021 (La Mesa) -- Ron Brady was the founder of a high profile construction company, but it was the practice of philanthropy over the course of many decades that helped him develop some of his closest community ties.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Brady took over his father's business, the lath and plastering contracting firm E.F. Brady that started in 1946, and turned it into a successful construction business known as the Brady Companies. The Brady companies were instrumental in developing much of San Diego County, Los Angeles County and parts of Northern California. The companies specialize in drywall, plaster and lath that are geared toward major commercial projects.
Over the course of his lifetime, he and his wife, Mary Alice, gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to different organizations, from Sharp Grossmont Hospital to the East County YMCA to the Boys and Girls Clubs of East County.
Ronald Perry Brady died at age 83 on Aug. 5, leaving behind his wife, survivors include his twin brother Robert; another brother, Richard; daughter Kimberly; four sons: Scott, Todd, Gregg and Lance; Barbara, the mother of his five children; two stepdaughters: Gamin and Tina; and stepson, Ernie, and their spouses. Brady also had 26 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
In 2017, Brady and Mary Alice Brady were recognized by La Mesa Mayor Mark Arapostathis and the City Council, adding their names to the La Mesa Walk of Fame for their contributions to the city.
"Ron and Mary Alice together were a team of philanthropy," said Arapostathis, who is also a teacher at La Mesa Arts Academy and runs the local Peter Pan Junior Theater group. "Mainly they cared about making change by making the lives of children better. And they didn't just donate money, they donated time. They showed up to events. When I would talk with Ron he was always interested in what was happening at the school and with PPJT.
"He also always encouraged me, he had kind words for the work I did and my volunteerism. He appreciated what I was doing and told me so, and especially for someone who did so much, he makes me want to keep doing what I'm doing."
The Bradys’ history of donating to the Boys and Girls Clubs of East County dates back to 2014 and the launch of a capital campaign that included a $1 million gift to renovate an existing teen center that is now known as the Brady Family Teen Center. The teen center opened in 2006 and is located on the east end of La Mesa Arts Academy.
The Bradys also donated $2 million in 2017 to construct the Brady Family Clubhouse, on the west end of LMAAC.
Ron was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1937, along with his twin brother Robert. After the war, their parents E.F. and Eloise, moved to San Diego in 1946, where they started E.F. Brady Company, a contracting firm specializing in lath and plaster.
According to those in business, Brady was admired for his unparalleled passion and energy from which the construction industry as a whole benefited, especially the commercial wall and ceiling industry. He was named President of the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry from 1989-90. In 2007, he was awarded the Pinnacle Award, the industry's highest honor.
In the March 1985 issue of "Construction Dimensions" magazine, his oldest son, Scott Brady, said that one of the key reason the Brady family business works is that "Dad taught us that being a family member was good for two things: advantage in selection for opportunity and communication with the most influential person in the company. Everything else depended on our commitment, effort and results."
In later years with the next generation of family members tending to the business, Brady began to focus to philanthropy, setting up ever-lasting gifts to groups including the Boys and Girls Clubs of East County, Grossmont Hospital Foundation, Rady Children's Hospital Foundation, Vista Hill Foundation, Walden Family Services, and McGrath Family YMCA.
Brady enjoyed spending time with family and friends, traveling all over the world, from as far away as Alaska and Cabo San Lucas to Idyllwild and Lake Tahoe.
A celebration of life was held in September at Skyline Church in La Mesa.
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