CHERYL BRADLEY

BRADLEY
CHERYL LEVY, Died peacefully on Saturday, October 22, 2016 at the age of 89 surrounded by her family. A leader in family law, child advocacy and in empowering women, she was predeceased by her husband Wesley (Bill), with whom she shared a 67 year love affair. Their 67 years together were a shining example of love, commitment and devotion.
Born to Harry and Betty Levy in 1927, Cheryl always wanted to practice law. In 1946 she fell in love with a sophisticated marine and married Bill Bradley in 1947. Together they soon started a family and moved to White Plains, New York where they raised four children.
Cheryl was a woman of her time and a woman beyond her time. Though she was forced to delay her law ambitions she threw her drive into work as a realtor and the launch of her own successful business, Service Finders, which connected homeowners to qualified contractors for all home needs and services. This successful business thrived for 8 years when, at the age of 40, after reading The Feminine Mystique, she finally decided to pursue her dream.
As one of two women at New York Law School, Cheryl graduated first in the class of 1970. She joined Sage, Gray, Todd, and Sims where, because of her gender, she was steered to the accounts of Child Welfare agencies and family law. She embraced this area of practice and became a Deputy County Attorney of Westchester County, establishing the Family Court Bureau. She then became Counsel to the NY State Comptroller office of the Welfare Inspector General. She had a successful Family Law practice and was an expert in child custody, parental rights, and adoption. In 1983 she was appointed a Westchester County Family Court Judge in New York.
Cheryl's two passions were women's equality and ensuring that the law protected the best interest of children. In 1975 she founded and was the first president of the Westchester Women's Bar Association. She taught Matrimonial Practice at Pace Law School and was an adjunct professor at the Stoney Brook School of Welfare. She authored A Caseworker's Guide to the Law of Permanency in New York State.
Predeceased by her eldest son Lance, Cheryl is survived by her brother Robert Levy, sons Jon (Blanca Santiago) and Adam, daughter Joelle and her grandchildren Sophie and Grace Honik, Fiona and Celena Bradley. To the very end, she was passionate that the next president be a woman.
A memorial service will be held on Thursday, October 27, 2 P.M. at GOLDSTEINS' ROSENBERG'S RAPHAEL SACKS, 6410 N. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA. Donations can be made in her memory to Planned Parenthood at www.plannedparenthood.org.