Kate Spade’s ‘Heartbroken’ Father Dies Day Before Her Funeral

Kate Spade’s father, Earl F. Brosnahan, Jr., who went by the name Frank, passed away Wednesday evening, reports TMZ. According to a statement from the family, which TMZ posted, Frank Brosnahan was in failing health and heartbroken after his famous daughter took her own life a few weeks ago on June 5. The 89-year-old was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, which was just hours before his daughter was to be laid to rest Thursday.

In the release, the family shared that Brosnahan was a veteran of the U.S. Navy before he graduated from the University of Miami. He spent his life in Kansas City, Missouri, where he met and married Spade’s mother, June Therese Mullen, in 1959. They started a family, and Kate was the fifth of six children. They remained married for 50 years. He later married Sandy Palmer, who was by his side when he died.

TMZ noted that according to reports, Brosnahan “was concerned about Kate’s use of prescription drugs and advised her not to take them. He also said he spoke with her the night before her suicide, and she gave no indication she was in that much despair.”

Earlier today, TMZ reported that police found medication at the scene of Spade’s suicide but no illegal drugs.

“Law enforcement sources tell us NYPD officers combing through Kate’s Park Avenue home came across the anxiety meds, which were prescribed to the designer. We don’t know yet if Kate had taken any of the medications before she took her life,” TMZ reported.

Spade had been fighting depression and anxiety for years, according to husband Andy Spade’s statement, which was released to the public, as previously reported by Inquisitr. He shared that she’d been fighting it for the last five years.

“Spade had fallen into a state of depression in the months leading up to her death after her husband, Andy Spade, had asked for a divorce. The couple was living separately but, according to Andy, still had dinners and took vacations together with their 13-year-old daughter,” reported TMZ.

“Bea was living with both of us and we saw each other or spoke every day. We ate many meals together as a family and continued to vacation together as a family. Our daughter was our priority. We were not legally separated, and never even discussed divorce,” he said in a statement that the New York Times shared.

Brosnahan passing away so close to when his daughter died is reminincent of another famous daughter’s death. It was said that after Carrie Fisher died, her mother, Debbie Reynolds, passed away from heartbreak, too, the very next day. Kate Spade was laid to rest Thursday in Kansas City.