KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The family of fashion designer Kate Spade says her father died on the eve of her funeral.
The family released a statement Thursday saying Earl Brosnahan, Jr. died Wednesday night at his home in Kansas City, Missouri. The family says he was 89 and had been in failing health.
The statement says he was "heartbroken over the recent death of his beloved daughter."
The statement was released as a funeral began for his daughter Thursday afternoon in Kansas City, her hometown. Kate Spade was found dead by suicide in her New York City home on June 5.
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She was 55 and had a 13-year-old daughter. Her husband, Andy Spade, says she had depression and anxiety for many years.
Read the family's full statement below:
“We are deeply saddened to announce that Katy’s father, Earl F. Brosnahan, Jr. (Frank), passed away last night at age 89. He had been in failing health of late and was heartbroken over the recent death of his beloved daughter. He was at home and surrounded by family at the time of his passing.
Frank was born in Kansas City, MO and was a lifelong resident. He served in the U.S. Navy before graduating from the University of Miami in 1949, after which he returned to Kansa City to work in in the family construction business. He was president of the Midwest Heavy Construction Association in the mid 1960’s, after taking over the family business from his father Earl F. Brosnahan, Sr. and his mother Helen Rose Brosnahan (née Mottin).
Frank married June Therese Mullen in 1953 and had six children, Missy, Earl III, Ann, Reta, Katy (deceased), and Eve. He was an avid tennis player and a charter member of the Carriage Club in Kansas City for more than 50 years. Frank married Sandy Palmer in 1992 and she was bedside when he passed.
Later in life Frank took up golf and was a great lover of his two Yorkshire Terriers. He was especially proud of his wife, children and grandchildren. Frank is survived by his wife Sandy, three brothers and a sister, five children, eight grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, sisters Katherine and Helen De Salme and his daughter Katherine Noel.”
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