The Latest: Hundreds attend funeral for designer Kate Spade
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Latest on funeral services for fashion designer Kate Spade (all times local):
5:45 p.m.
Hundreds of mourners braved drizzling rain to attend the funeral for fashion designer Kate Spade in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.
Many of those attending the Thursday church service carried her iconic purses.
Her family released a statement shortly before the funeral began, saying her father had died the night before. The statement said 89-year-old Earl Brosnahan Jr. had been in failing health and was "heartbroken" after his daughter's suicide.
The 55-year-old mother was found dead in her New York City home on June 5. Her husband says she'd had depression and anxiety for years, and that she'd been seeing a doctor.
A high school classmate said Thursday that Spade was "incredibly kind" and had a memorable laugh.
___
3:50 p.m.
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 at church in Kansas City, her hometown. Kate Spade was found dead by suicide in her New York City home on June 5.
She was 55 and had a 13-year-old daughter. Her husband, Andy Spade, says she had depression and anxiety for many years.
___
11:13 p.m.
Fashion designer Kate Spade is being buried in Kansas City, where she was born.
Services for Spade are planned for 3 p.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Redemptorist Church. That's where her grandparents wed.
Spade was found dead by suicide on June 5 in her New York City home. She was 55 and had a 13-year-old daughter.
Spade was working as an accessories editor at Mademoiselle magazine when she launched her company with husband Andy Spade in 1993. Andy Spade says she had depression and anxiety for many years.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for donations to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or a Kansas City animal shelter.