Afton Bradford Bradshaw, who served 18 years in the Utah Legislature, died Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2006, at her home of pulmonary fibrosis. She was 80.
The Republican lawmaker was proud of being seen as a political moderate able to attract Democratic votes in the Salt Lake County House seat she held until 2003, her son, Jim Bradshaw, said.
"She was a huge champion of education and fought some very hard battles on behalf of the University of Utah and educators around the state," he said. Ms. Bradshaw was the House chairwoman of the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee for six years.
Among her other government assignments was a 12-year term on the Constitutional Revision Commission and more than a decade on the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.
Her community activities included stints on the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau executive committee, the U. Alumni Association, and the Utah Humanities Council. She was also a director of Wright Express Financial Services Bank.
Ms. Bradshaw counted among her good friends another state lawmaker, Olene Walker, who became the state's first female governor. Among the many awards Ms. Bradshaw earned was being named YWCA Legislator of the Year in 1999.
She was the first person in her family to graduate from collage and returned to the U. for a master's degree after her children were born. In 2003, the U. presented Ms. Bradshaw with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree.
She was married to Howard C. Bradshaw for 56 years, and had three children, Susan, James and Alan; two stepsons, Gary and David; and eight grandchildren.
Funeral services are set for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Salt Lake Monument Park Stake Center, 1320 S. Wasatch Drive. A viewing is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Friday at Larkin Sunset Lawn, 2350 E. 1300 South.
In lieu of flowers, Ms. Bradshaw had requested contributions be made to any scholarship funds for needy students.