Gerry Brady: An appreciation
Gerry has gone. You can sense the gap already. This genuine man, poor in worldly
things but rich in everything that really matters, has departed. He really is
`irreplaceable’.
Gerry, a fierce competitor of respectable standing for 20 years and later a
Track Judge, came into the sport relatively late but in time to join as rich a
bunch of old Pembroke characters as you would find in any Damon Runyan novel.
Sid Black, Sid Smith, Sammy McIvor, Brian Hughes, Billy Feury, Reg Kernighan,
Joe McAloon, Pete Shillito, Eddie Crowley etc, the names roll off the tongue. At
the heart of this colourful bunch was Gerry Brady. They even had nicknames for
each other, `The Hen’…something to do with legs, `The Sand Fly’…a preference for
running up sand hills, `Put the lights out’…usually last in races. Other
nicknames, although equally precise, are unrepeatable.
The reader will gather that Gerry`s life was full of many simple but joyous
moments. Along with Sid Black in particular he was the embodiment of working
class wit with the whiff of a great seaport, the Bootle end naturally. The
humour was carried into banter, or some would say abuse, of cross city rivals,
Liverpool Harriers. Sid and Gerry (it really does sound like a stage double act)
would claim the Harriers did not have the imagination or richness of language to
respond. They were undoubtedly right.
But there was more to Gerry than bringing a smile to your face. He was very
thoughtful and had what could only be described as a philosophy of life. I have
never met anybody more loyal and generous with both his time and limited
resources. As the tributes accrue everyone talks about a particular act of
generosity of which they were the recipients Writing from Australia Kenny Beisty
recalls Gerry`s spontaneous kindness when he and his wife Sue were on a visit to
the city some years back. Elsewhere a female spectator recalls how he took off
his coat and gave it to her when he spotted her shivering in the cold. Another
talks about being short of cash and Gerry taking out the few notes he had left
in his wallet and pressing it into his hand. Numerous anecdotes…everybody seems
to have a story like this.
In short he was one of life`s `givers not `takers’. If your head was down for
whatever reason a chat with Gerry very soon lifted your spirit. He had, of
course, his own share of misfortune which he minimised. He saw his object in
life as making the world a little better and he succeeded. He lived to a decent
age, 80, and saw many of his great mates predecease him. He would reckon,
though, that he had lived a full life and who would gainsay him? Somewhere I
suspect he is reading all this and I can hear a mischievous chuckle. Any minute
now a voice will whisper, `Go on, Charlie, tell them that one about…………… (name
censored) and ……………….(some crazy thing that befell them)’. But I really can`t,
Gerry, this is a respectable audience and a serious moment.
Written from the heart.
Our condolences go out to Michael, Sue, grandchildren and other relatives.
Charles Gains
Gerry always supported the club albeit in the last few
years from a distance due to ill health and age. I had a chat with Gerry at Bill
Smith's funeral in October when he was at his usual self cracking a joke. A nice
guy who will be missed
Robbie Wood
Leave Comment