Bradek was the first of the family to be born in the United States. When he was 6 year old the family moved to a farm near Mitchell, Iowa. He lived there until 1872 when he and his father moved to South Dakota and filed a homestead claim near Tabor. Bradek stayed only a short while then returned to Mitchell.

He married and farmed near Manley, Iowa. Later he moved to a farm near Lakefield, Minnesota where he lived the remainder of his life. About 1885 he wrote a biography of his father published in a Czech language journal.