Bryan Patrick Atherton

Bryan Patrick Atherton, of Frederick, Maryland, passed away peacefully in his home on November 25, 2025 after a long illness, attended by family and friends. He was a cherished husband, brother, uncle, friend, and cat-dad, whose ebullient and outgoing personality won him loyal friends everywhere he went. To Bryan, strangers were merely friends he had not yet met and charmed.

Bryan was born in San Jose, California in 1968, and grew up in Belton, Texas. He graduated from Belton High School in 1986, and from Texas A&M University in 1991, with dual majors in History and Political Science. He then attended graduate school at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he met his future wife, Laura Radiker, in the Medieval Studies program, and they married in 1995. Bryan received a Certificate in Paralegal Studies, with a specialization in Contracts Management, from Bentley College in Boston, Massachusetts in 2003. He joined the International Association of Contract & Commercial Managers in 2008, became a Certified Federal Contracts Manager via the National Contracts Manager Association in 2010, and a Certified Schedules Contract Manager via Centre Federal Contracting Institute in 2015.

Bryan began his professional career as an Operations Manager then Contracts Manager at MAK Technologies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and continued in the Contracts Managements field with a focus in both government and commercial contracts. He was Director of Contracts at McLane Advanced Technologies in Temple, Texas; Director of Contracts for JLG Industries, a subsidiary of Oshkosh Defense, in Hagerstown, Maryland; Sr. Contracts Manager for SRA International in Frederick, Maryland; Sr. Director of Government and International Contracts and Compliance for Airbus US Space and Defense in Herndon, Virginia, and finally, Director of Contracts and Compliance for Fornetix in Frederick, Maryland. In Bryan’s career he managed contracts in a range of fields, including Simulation Technology; Logistics and IT Services for government, military, and private sector; Machinery Manufacturing for the Department of Defense, including that of the MRAP All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATV) which saved many lives during the Iraq War; Commercial and Military Satellite Communications, as well as Cybersecurity.

Bryan was also an avid sportsman and sports fan all of his life. In elementary school, he played for a baseball team that went to the SW Regional playoffs for the Little League World Series. He helped to found his high school’s first soccer team, determined to bring a sport he loved to a school and community focused on American football. He reveled in telling the story of he and a few soccer-loving friends clearing an empty field of stones, in order to create their school’s first soccer pitch. In college Bryan played rugby; what he lacked in size, he made up for in sheer grit and enthusiasm. As an adult he loved games of pick-up soccer, indoor soccer, and coaching children’s soccer. Bryan was a super-fan of the Texas A&M Aggies, the Boston Red Sox, and the Liverpool Soccer Club. One of his favorite pastimes was attending minor league baseball games in any town or city he lived in.

Bryan loved travelling and sight-seeing, and, throughout his life, his moves criss-crossed the country. While in graduate school, he joined Laura in a trip to Wales, in which she attended summer school, and he attended the pubs. The historian in both Bryan and Laura thrilled to tours of historical landmarks and museums wherever they went. Bryan served as an enthusiastic tour guide for family and friends, showing them the sights and regaling them with the history of every city he called home. He was always a booster and advocate for the places he lived and the local businesses therein. Bryan also loved the outdoors--enjoying everything from hiking national parks to walking local parks, and showing people around his wife’s garden.

Bryan was preceded in death by his mother, Rita Fay Atherton, and father, Wayne Arthur Atherton, and many beloved pets. He is survived by his loving wife of thirty years, Laura Radiker, of Frederick, Maryland; his brother, James Atherton of Belton, Texas; his nephews, Michael Atherton of Belton, TX and Keven Atherton of Temple, Texas; a trio of cats who trained him well to deliver treats, and the many friends he made and kept throughout his lifetime.

Bryan chose cremation with a simple family viewing. A Celebration of his life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Cancer Society or ordering memorial trees to give back to the natural world Bryan loved.