Two years ago, Shaun Brady told the Kansas City Star that he and his friend Graham Farris had worked “twenty hour days” in order to open their restaurant on time for Patrick’s Day of that year.
Mr Brady said that he grew up in a family of four and started making meals when he was a young man in order to help his mother Mary.
He told the paper that he had honed his skills by watching his grandmother cook. He also enjoyed hanging out in the kitchens of family friends who were in the business “being nosey.”
He said that his friends at the CBS in Nenagh had wanted to join the fire brigade or became guards. However, the owner of Brady and Fox Restaurant and Lounge stated that his dream from an early age had been to train as a professional chef.
“My mammy was very, very against me being a chef. It took her quite a few years to come around.
"We weren’t put up on the pedestals like we are now. Chefs had a history of drug and alcohol problems. It was just a different time.“
Shaun moved to Dublin as a teenager and worked his way up the ladder in restaurants in the city. He was one of the youngest in his class when he graduated as an executive chef having completed a course in the Dublin Institute of Technology.
He said that he “bounced around” at restaurants in Europe and Asia.
“While traveling, if I found a restaurant I really liked, I would go back to the restaurant the next day and knock on the door, ‘Do you need help?’” he said. “I would offer to work for free and watch what was going on in the kitchen.”
Mr Brady met his wife, Kate, while she was travelling in Ireland. Kate is a native of Wichita in Missouri. The couple lived in Chicago before relocating to Kansas City in 2013.
Shaun worked as executive chef at the Ambassador Hotel in downtown Kansas and then became corporate chef. He then opened “Brady’s Public House and Restaurant.”
A hugely successful spot, it came under pressure and closed during the pandemic.
His next big venture was Brady and Fox. In a statement online, management and staff at Brady and Fox said that their “hearts are broken” following the death of Shaun.
“There are no words to express our sadness, anger and frustration. Our community is with Shaun's family - forever.. We appreciate the outpouring of support, offers to help, and your love.
"Together we are united. Together we will grieve. Together we will heal.
"We ask that you show compassion and aid in our healing by respecting the privacy of Shaun's family.
"Thank you. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.”
Meanwhile, KC Irish Fest is due to get underway in Kansas City this weekend.
Pat O’Neill, who was a friend of Mr Brady’s, told FOX4 last night that he and others are trying to come to grips with what happened.
“He was a really beloved figure in our community. He was a native of Tipperary in Ireland and just a generous do anything for anybody kind of guy. A lot of us are just stunned, crying, angry, wondering why?”
Fox 4 said that Sean had featured on their channel on a number of occasions in order to promote Irish food for Patrick’s Day and the KC Irish Fest.
In a statement the KC Irish Fest board offered their heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of Shaun.
“The Kansas City Irish Fest mourns the loss of our dear friend Shaun, tragically taken from us too soon. His extraordinary culinary gifts and easy Irish charm made his table the favorite gathering place of Kansas City’s Irish community. He will be sorely missed.”
The board described Brady as a large part of the KC Irish Fest family, head chef and creator of the Kansas City Irish Breakfast.
The breakfast was supposed to take place after mass next Sunday.The breakfast has been cancelled as a mark of respect to Mr Brady.
Sean lived in Overland Park in Kansas City. He and his wife Kate got married in 2005.
Nenagh Councillor Seamus Morris (NP) said that the late Shaun Brady was a “great ambassador” for his home town and Ireland.
“ It was a shocking end (for Shaun). He had moved to Kansas about ten years ago. He got so involved in the community over there.
"He was involved in the Irish Fest which is coming up shortly. He ran a business. Whatever happened, and I don’t know what happened, but to disturb something (a theft). And then to be shot….
"I am a postman to many of his cousins and to his grandmother, Lillian, and they are all in absolute shock that a life could be ended so needlessly.
"I met his cousin this morning and I sympathised with them. It is an awful tragedy for his family and of course his family in Kansas. He was a great ambassador for us all which a lot of our young people are.”
Labour councillor in Nenagh Cllr Louise Morgan Walsh said that locals were”shocked and saddened” to hear of the unlawful killing of Mr Brady.
“I remember Shaun from school. He was a really lovely guy. To think that his life has ended so tragically while he was trying to do good. This is so wrong.
"My thoughts and prayers are with his mum, Mary, and his sisters and all his family and friends here in Nenagh, Ardcroney and in Kansas City in the US at this very difficult time.”
Meanwhile, Mayor of Kansas Cllr Quinton Lucas said that he was “heartbroken” to learn of the death of Shaun Brady. He posted on social media that he had enjoying meeting Shaun and “laughing” with him.
“I heard just a bit of his and his family’s story and was inspired by the business and the community he was building in Kansas city.
"I grieve for and express my sincerest condolences to his family and all who knew him. More distress comes in knowing how he died--due to violence arising once more in our community.
For years now, but more acutely in recent months, business owners in Brookside and Waldo, but also along Prospect, in the Crossroads, and throughout too much of our city have expressed serious concerns about a rise in property and nuisance crimes plaguing their stores, their parking lots, and their customers.”
A co worker posted online that he had lost friends who were chefs to “overdose, suicide, health complications, and (for the lucky few) old age.”
But he said that it was “sickening” to lose a “wonderful friend, great father, husband, and extraordinary and creative chef” to murder.
Anthony's Italian Restaurant and Lounge in Kansas city posted on Facebook that they were in mourning following the loss of one of best chefs in the city.
“Shaun Brady was an icon and a staple in Kansas City for his Irish cuisine. Irish Festival will never be the same without him.”
