PEOPLE OF INTEREST
76
Several llamas share a sprawling pasture at Critter Haven.
throughout life. Starting right out of college as an elementary
school art teacher in Flint, Michigan, Brady quickly rose
through the ranks to become the art administrator for the
Flint school system, which entailed moving from school to
school and hiring teachers. He then took over as art administrator
for a larger school system in Louisville, Kentucky,
where he ran art programs for 22 schools. While in Louisville
he got his third academic degree and was offered a Ph.D. but
decided to walk away from administrative work and move
to Quebec to fly hot air balloons. “When I told the dean my
plans, he said I was the youngest person to qualify for a
Ph.D. at that campus and if I walked out that door I would
regret it for the rest of my life.” When asked if he had regrets,
Brady responds with a resounding “Naw!”
“My first wife was Canadian so we moved to Quebec and
I learned to fly hot air balloons,” he continues. “It really was
magical. I flew them all over Canada and the United States
and it wasn’t long before I became vice president of a ballooning
organization. It always comes back to administration.
Even now, I’m back behind a desk.”
Brady eventually moved to Vero Beach, where his mother
had a condo, and he quickly found work with the Indian
River School District. “They only had four art teachers in the
entire district,” Brady explained. “I told them to hire me and
I’d build an entire department.” And he did. By the time he
retired he had hired 23 art teachers and ensured there was a
dedicated art room in every school.
Tragedy struck in May 2015 when an electrical fire destroyed
his home and all its contents. “It was a devastating
loss,” laments Brady. “I lost my extensive art collection, my >>
The future of Critter Haven lies with manager Joey Borneman and assistant manager Brian Walzak.