Longtime West Islip resident Vivian A. Bradley, who was a loving foster mother to many children in Suffolk County, died after a long-term illness Dec. 31, 2007. She was 81.

Born in the Bronx in 1926, she graduated Evander Childs High School in January of 1944. In 1946, she met and married a British seamen, Harold R. Bradley. They moved to West Islip in 1959, and lived there for more than 40 years.

After 25 years, she retired as a bookkeeper for Sears in Bay Shore.

During the 1960s and 1970s, she was a devoted foster mother for the Suffolk County Department of Social Services and cared for more than 15 infants who were later returned to their families. She had cared for numerous other children before the onset of her illness in 2006 at the age of 80.

Mrs. Bradley leaves behind her daughters: Vivian Morgan of Shirley, New York, Deborah Sullivan of Toms River, New Jersey and Mary-Lou Gutshall of Princeton, New Jersey; her nine grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband Harold.

She reposed at the Lang-Tobia-DiPalma Funeral Home in West Islip. A Funeral Mass was held at Our Lady of Lourdes R.C. Church followed by interment in North Babylon Cemetery on Jan. 4, 2008.