Frank was an inspiration not only to his fellow walkers from Trinity Episcopal Church, but to many others who admired his spirit and loyalty to the cause. He made outstanding contributions to Crop Walk by raising an amount totaling many times over the expected amount raised each year by other individual walkers. The extraordinary results of his fundraising efforts were due to his wide personal connections, particularly in his neighborhood and in the Trinity Episcopal Church community. Joan Kaufman, fellow parishioner and regular Crop Walk participant with her husband Ivan, said of Frank, “It seems to me that this citizen service he performed enlarged his soul. What an example for the rest of us!”
Garvin Moore, who enlisted Frank for Cropwalk in 1997 and was his walk partner each year, stated that Frank’s energy for the cause was unbounded, and he insisted always to walk the entire walk, except for last year, when he reluctantly took the advice to shorten his walk by half due to fatigue.
Speaking with David and Jane Bailey, with whom Frank lived since 1985 in Concord after losing his parents, it was noted that Frank had been born, raised and educated in Johnson City, New York before coming to Concord. Frank overcame the challenges of cerebral palsy because his devoted parents, Kenneth and Hollis Thompson Bradshaw, saw to it that he had every educational advantage offered in the way of schooling and vocational training as a youth. As a result of that devotion of family, and teachers, as well as an inborn spirit of selflessness, Frank became a productive and respected citizen, holding jobs that meant much to his becoming the self-realized man that he was.
Reverend Nick Morris-Kliment, associate rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, wrote this tribute:
Frank Bradshaw was a warm hearted, generous, serious but not somber Christian person with remarkable faithfulness and humor. He always had a kind word and a smile and a handshake. His disability was not an excuse but rather a springboard for service to others. He adored Trinity Church. I would be surprised if he had missed more than a couple of Sundays over the decades of his service as an usher. Over and over he would say Trinity was his home. And in turn, Trinity embraced him as family. Each year, when we honored Frank during a Sunday service for his remarkable CROPWalk service, the round of applause for him in the church was sustained and warm. If he was not able to get a ride to church, he would walk. For even a fully able bodied person, this was no mean accomplishment. We had a running joke after service each Sunday. He would say to me, "Do you think we should do this again next week?" I would say, "I think so. What about you?" He'd reply, "Yes, I think so," with a twinkle in his eye as he looked at me over the rim of his eyeglasses. He loved God and prayed hard for those close to him and the world. I will miss him, and so will Trinity, the Concord community, and the wider world.