Earl F. Brosnahan, Jr., father of Kate Spade, dead at 89

June 21 (UPI) — Kate Spade’s father, Earl F. Brosnahan, Jr., died at the age of 89, one day before his daughter’s funeral, the family said in a statement Thursday.

Spade’s family announced Brosnahan’s death minutes before his daughter’s funeral was set to be held in Kansas City, Mo.

“He had been in failing health of late and was heartbroken over the recent death of his beloved daughter,” the family said. “He was at home and surrounded by family at the time of his passing.”

A priest at the service said Brosnahan, who went by the name Frank, was recently put into hospice, Missouri’s KCMO reported.

Brosnahan was born in Kansas City and served in the U.S. Navy before graduating from the University of Miami in 1949, the family said.

He took over his family’s construction business and served as president of the Midwest Heavy Construction Association in the mid-1960s.

Brosnahan married June Therese Mullen in 1953 and the couple had six children including Spade and her siblings Missy, Earl III, Ann, Reta, and Eve.

He is survived by his wife, Sandy, whom he married in 1992, three brothers, a sister, five children and eight grandchildren.

Spade, a purse and fashion designer, died by suicide June 5 at her home in New York City.