On Saturday, April 10, 2021, Bells of the Cascades was saddened to say goodbye to our beloved member Carolyn Bradley—who passed away earlier this year—at her memorial service in Tigard, OR. We were honored to perform three pieces in tribute. It was, in fact, our very first public appearance as an ensemble since February of 2020.

Carolyn was like our team Mom. She always tied perfect, uniform bows on the backs of the women’s dresses, cleaned all our eyeglasses, and provided us with Altoids before each performance. She reminded the women to wear lip color and earrings. Her dedication to BOC went far beyond that, though. She led the membership committee, worked hard on her music outside of rehearsal, and attended nearly every rehearsal, even throughout her illness and treatments. She had a beautiful smile and shared it freely.

As serious as she was about her music, Carolyn had a fondness for telling jokes. She would occasionally approach one of us with what seemed to be the beginning of a serious conversation, only to end it with an unexpectedly devastating punchline. She was filled with faith and brought a calm, good-natured presence to our ensemble.

Now that there are more men in BOC, there aren’t as many dress bows to be tied, but there are more bow ties! No matter the attire, Carolyn’s spirit of excellence in both performance and appearance will continue on in all we do. We miss her.