FLOMATON — A former director of development at Marion Military Institute and his wife are now two of four fatalities tied to a tragic car wreck in Flomaton last week.

Retired Army Col. Edward Bradford, 80, died Friday at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Fla., from injuries sustained in an Aug. 31 accident.

According to reports, Bradford was in a car driven by his wife, Alice, when it failed to stop at an intersection, collided with another vehicle, which sent both cars into a nearby tire store.

Alice Bradford, 79, died from her injuries Monday. The other two victims were Stephen Carl Thompson, 33, and his 9-year-old son Nathan, both of Bay Minette.

“He worked hard for the school and did a great job in his efforts in fundraising, and acquiring grants,” retired Army Col. John Gibler, a member of MMI’s faculty during Bradford’s tenure during the 1980s. “He and Alice were dear friends and we are all saddened by the news of their deaths.”

Gibler and Bradford also had a much closer connection than the one formed at MMI; they served as infantry officers and in Vietnam at the same time.

“We didn’t know each other while we were in the service, but we knew a lot of the same people,” Gibler said. “Then again, there is a certain special connection between those who have served in the infantry.”

A native of New York City, after Bradford graduated from college, he joined the Army in 1949. He was later commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry in 1951.

During his career, he served in command and staff positions throughout the United States and Germany, including combat tours in Korea and Vietnam. He attended the Army Command and General Staff College and served as editor-in-chief of Military Review Magazine as his final assignment.

After retiring in 1980, he joined the staff and faculty of Marin Military Institute. He retired from the school in 1993 as vice president and later moved to Pensacola.

Although not officially in the military, Alice served as an officer’s wife and brought her nursing skills from the Long Island College Hospital School of Nursing to communities and military posts throughout their time in the military.

She served as a public health nurse and director of nursing in some cases. She also dedicated countless volunteer hours though such outlets as thrift shops, Army Wives Clubs, The Arlington Ladies, Pineglades Garden Club and local hospitals and churches.