Phil Brady was up for reelection this year on the Wasco County Board of Commissioners. The retired science teacher told friends it would be his last run for the board.

At 70 years old, he was active, often seen commuting around town on his bike. In the days leading up to the election, Brady walked dozens of miles while canvassing and knocking on thousands of doors, according to his wife, Mary Jo Commerford.

On Tuesday afternoon, Commerford says Brady told her that since he couldn’t campaign on Election Day, he’d go out for a bike ride.

“He was a real rule follower,” Commerford said Wednesday. “He enjoyed canvassing. He’d come home and say, ‘Oh, you should hear who I talked to today.’”

According to Commerford, Brady experienced chest pains during his ride and later died at a nearby hospital Tuesday from heart complications.

His death leaves a vacancy on the commission board and raises questions about who will fill it. But those who knew him as the man who grew up in The Dalles, raised a family, and taught at the local middle school, high school, and juvenile correction facility, said his absence will be felt much deeper.

“Wasco County was a better place because he was a commissioner, and I would say I’m a better commissioner for having known him and having him be a mentor,” said Jeff Justesen, a fellow Wasco County commissioner.

Among the initiatives Brady pushed for on the county board were more affordable housing units and greater visibility for small communities like Maupin in far south Wasco County. Passion projects that Justesen said will make Brady hard to replace.

Justesen and fellow commissioner Scott Hege opened Wednesday’s board meeting with the news of Brady’s death and remembrances of his life. Justesen worked at the Northern Oregon Regional Corrections Juvenile facility when Brady was placed as a teacher there.

He remembered Brady inspiring the kids — and making some of the adults nervous – with demonstrations of combustion inside the cinderblock building.

“Instead of just telling the kids about it, he was showing them, and that was kind of Phil in a nutshell there, just that he wanted to make learning fun.”

‘The kindest man’

Brady’s longtime neighbor and close family friend, Debi Ferrer, taught science with Brady at The Dalles High School. She said Brady was always kind to students.

“Phil was that truly kind person who gave every kid the benefit of the doubt and encouraged and showed them respect,” she said. “He was the kindest man I have ever met.”

In 2022, Ferrer helped run Brady’s first campaign for the county board of commissioners. She said he told her he was running because of his father.

“Seeing his father serve on the school board instilled in him the desire to serve on other boards,” Ferrer said. Laughing, she added, “He also said, ‘And because I love meetings, not very many people do, but I love meetings.’”

Before settling in The Dalles, Brady and Commerford, who married in 1987, lived for nearly a decade in Venezuela. The couple served in a Catholic ministry there, helping people in rural areas.

“He really is the whole package,” Commerford said. “He’s as beautiful an outside promoter as he was, a husband, and as a father and grandfather. He was just very sincere.”

Brady and Commerford moved with their two young daughters, Sarah and Maza, back to The Dalles in 2003. Commerford said their time in Venezuela was formative for the family.

“Our family came back bilingual,” Commerford said. “And when we came back, we wanted to be in a community where we could use our Spanish and advocate for immigrants and Latinos. And in his hometown of The Dalles, that was happening because of the demographic changes.”

Maria Peña is a Wasco County community health worker and longtime family friend. She met Brady when their daughters were in Catholic school together, and they attended the same church. She said Brady was always an outspoken advocate for the Latino community.

“He was at every single Latino community event,” said Peña. “I don’t know what we’re going to do without him.”

As word spread on Wednesday of Brady’s death, Peña said she heard from many community members who were similarly shocked by the news.

According to the county’s unofficial voting results, Brady was leading the tight race for his commission seat by a percentage point.

In a run-off, usually the top two vote-getters move on to the general election. But on Wednesday evening, Wasco County Clerk Chrissy Zaugg said that per state statute, only the name of the second-highest vote getter, Mike Urness, will appear on the November ballot.

Commerford said she was with close family and friends praying around Brady’s body when the results came in Tuesday.

“We’re all thrilled that he actually got the most votes,” she said. “I think if someone would have told him, ‘You could die on election day when you’re riding your bike after you’ve done all this good canvassing,’ he would say, ‘Yeah. Yeah.’”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/20/beloved-wasco-county-commissioner-phil-brady-leading-race-dies-suddenly-on-election-day/