Early Life, Education, and Early Political Career
Brady was born in Vermillion, South Dakota, one of five children of William F. and Nancy A. Brady. His father, a lawyer, was killed in 1967 in a courtroom shooting in Rapid City when Brady was 12 years old. His mother was left to raise five children by herself. Student body president and a four-sport athlete, Brady graduated from Rapid City Central High School in 1973. Working his way through college holding a variety of jobs - construction worker, meat packer, manufacturing worker, waiter, and bartender - Brady graduated from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, where he played varsity baseball, served in the student government association and became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. In 2005 he was named a Distinguished Alumni of the university, and in 2001 was a recipient of the Order of Achievement by the national Lambda Chi Alpha organization.
A chamber of commerce executive at the Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce, Brady was elected to the Rapid City Common Council at age 26. In 1982 he moved to Texas to work for the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce and later the South Montgomery County Woodlands Chamber of Commerce.
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