Bill Brady was born in St. Louis, Missouri during the final year of WWII. After spending several early years in South America, Bill’s family, which included Mom, Dad and four boys, moved to St. Tammany Parish.
Bill graduated from Covington High School and then went on to become Student Government President at Southeastern Louisiana College, earning a degree in government. After toying with the idea of going to law school like his brother Jim, Bill, like his brother Colin, decided to become a teacher.
Bill Brady
Bill taught in numerous schools in St. Tammany, including Slidell Junior, Bayou Lacombe Junior, and Chahta-Ima Junior, where he soon became the assistant principal. When this school burned down in 1976, Bill became the principal of Bayou Lacombe Junior High, where platooning had to be implemented. Bill remembers fondly some of his co-workers at this school, including Kay Fortenberry, Ray Sibley, Peter Jabbia, Carl Benoit and Willie Jeeter.
He was active in the Covington Jaycees and Covington Community Center organization.
From 1980-1995, Bill served as principal of Covington Elementary, where he became famous for knowing every student by name and able to recall funny events about every child’s former family members.
His compassion for ALL children and their right to a strong education was compelling. He made sure that Covington Elementary was on the forefront of technology as computers were just beginning to be used in the classroom.
During a school fundraiser, Brady offered to kiss a pig if the goal was met.
Several years after the above incident, I asked Bill if he remembered kissing the pig, and he frowned and said, "She never calls, she never writes..."
In 1995, Bill moved to central office as a supervisor and eventually an assistant superintendent in charge of administration, working closely through the years with Richard Tanner, Lenny Monteleone, Gayle Sloan, Mike Cosse, Peter Jabbia and Trey Folse.
Bill finally retired after 46 years of dedicated service to every student, parent and educator in St. Tammany Parish, leaving an unparalleled legacy of compassion and knowledge.
On the home front, Bill married Angela Howes, and they raised two children, a son Kelly and a daughter Maura. Now, Bill and Angela are grandparents to three precious granddaughters, McKinley, Evyn and Kate, ages 14, 11 and 9 who live in Humble, Texas.
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Always an early riser, Bill continues that habit in retirement where he can be found cutting grass before it gets too hot, accompanying Angela to church, or meeting some buddies for breakfast. After retirement, he would met regularly for lunch with Brandon Clanton, Simmie Fairley, and Ron Caruso to name a few.
When asked if he had any hobbies, such as fishing, Bill replied the only thing he ever caught the one time he tried to fish was a game warden! He does have a strong passion for the St. Louis Cardinals stemming from his very early days in Missouri and tries to catch them on TV when he can.
Instead of hobbies, Bill is still committed to service projects dear to his heart. He continues to work with the United Way, an organization which he championed tirelessly throughout his educational career. And he serves on the board and is chaplain for the St. Tammany Retired School Employees Association.
Bill recalled one incident that happened when he was principal at Covington Elementary. A little boy was choking on a hot dog and Bill had to quickly perform the Heimlich maneuver on him to dislodge the piece of meat. The next day Bill received a little handwritten note that said, “Thank you for saving my life, Mr. Brady.”
(Some of the information above was found on the St. Tammany Retired School Employees website)
Bill Brady
Brady was chosen as the Grand Marshal for the 2026 Covington Lions Club Parade.
