By Matthew McGevna
A simple man who loved music, coffee and conversation, Brandon walked into Barry¹s life when he stepped into the Witches Brew in West Hempstead and was instantly hooked to the atmosphere of the bohemian-style bistro. Brandon was educated in history and music, and played the bass. He was influenced mostly by jazz and blues, and the hip, beatnik decor of the coffee shop suited him. Barry, who owns Luna Music just down the street from the coffee shop on Hempstead Turnpike, took an instant liking to Brandon.
³Josh was a friend, first and foremost,² said Barry, as he stood near his grave at Nassau Knolls Cemetery in Port Washington. ³He lived for us, and he never asked for anything. He came into this life with nothing, and he left with nothing.²
Now, two years after Brandon¹s burial, which required Barry to become the state-recognized guardian of Brandon¹s remains, Barry is trying to raise funds for a headstone. Brandon is buried with his parents, Joshua and Evelyn, on an unmarked plot just before the cemetery office. The cemetery manager, Gene McCarthy, had to refer to a map of the grounds and walk Barry to the grave site. Just a few feet from a small tree, the grave looks like no more than a well-manicured lawn. ³You¹re standing here and you¹re a witness to it,² Barry said to McCarthy. ³You could never tell that someone is buried here.²
The fact that Brandon was buried with his parents in his hometown of Port Washington was achieved through no small effort. His funeral was done at cost by Barnes-Sorrentino Funeral Home on Hempstead Avenue in West Hempstead. Fred Sorrentino was studying guitar with Brandon and knew him from the Witches Brew as well. Then Barry held a benefit to raise the $1,400 it took to get Brandon in the ground. But before all that could happen, Barry needed to wait for a police investigation into Brandon¹s surviving kin, before being legally deemed Brandon¹s guardian. ³I didn¹t want him ending up in Potter¹s Field,² said Barry, referring to the cemetery on Hart Island, east of the Bronx where unclaimed, or unknown deceased meet their final resting place. In most cases, the dead that are cremated and buried at Potter¹s Field are homeless citizens who often don¹t carry identification with them. In Brandon¹s case, he outlived all of his family members.
Brandon was born in 1955 in Port Washington and was working as a door to door salesman in 1998 when he met Barry. Brandon was an only child. He never married and never had children, but he forged strong friendships with the people he met, including Sorrentino, Anthony Celenza, who owns the retail end of Luna Music, and the Miceli family, of the Witches Brew. It was through the Micelis that Brandon took a job with Barry at Luna Music. When Luna Music had to make some cuts, Brandon worked part-time at the former Lakeside Riding Academy in Lakeview, now called the Lakewood Stables. He had just finished a shift at the horse stables and had picked up some groceries at the Stop and Shop on Woodfield Road when he sat on the bench at the bus stop and waited for his ride home. He never got on. Police found Brandon¹s body slumped over on the bench on November 20, 2005, dead of an apparent heart attack. He was 50.
Barry remembers he was at a business meeting for Luna Music when the call came in that Brandon¹s body had been found with a business card from the music store in his wallet. The medical examiner wanted somebody to come down and identify the body. Barry went to the morgue, and then to Brandon¹s landlord to see if he could get any information about his family. That¹s when Barry quickly discovered that Brandon didn¹t have any surviving family members. In fact, the last member of Brandon¹s clan was his mother, and he had gone with Brandon to her funeral back in 2001.
The law requires a 30-day period to investigate any possible kin Brandon might have had before the state could legally declare Barry his guardian. After the investigation proved fruitless, Barry signed Brandon¹s death certificate in December, and set to the task of burying his friend along side his parents in Port Washington.
But now, Barry said the story is only half told. ³The goal here is to give the guy some recognition,² Barry said, pointing to the plot of grass at Nassau Knolls. ³This is a man that died at 50; he gave his life to public service for nothing and no one even knows who he is. You¹d have no idea this man ever lived. It¹s tragic to die with nothing.²
Barry said the headstone, with the engraving, would cost about $1,200, $400 of which Barry said has already been raised. One option he¹s looking into would be a trade-off with the cemetery for an empty plot of ground belonging to the Brandons adjacent to Josh and his parents. The plot was purchased by Brandon¹s parents, presumably for any future generations. The cemetery management has said they would enter into a barter, the plot for a headstone, if they could get legal permission. That would require Barry to be legally granted guardianship of the estate.
In the meantime, Barry honors his late friend in other ways. When Brandon died, Barry set up the Josh Brandon Memorial Scholarship Fund at West Hempstead High School, where Barry teaches. The scholarship fund is a $250 award granted to students who are pursuing a college education in music, fine arts, or the performing arts. Last year, the Brandon scholarship went to John Tittmann. This year it was awarded to violin player and stage actress Hye Jin Yoo. Donations to the Josh Brandon Memorial Scholarship can be sent c/o Mr. Brian Barry, 77 Herman Blvd. Franklin Square, NY 11010.
Barry is also accepting donations for Brandon¹s headstone, by making checks payable to the Josh L. Brandon Memorial Fund. The headstone is something Barry sees as an important symbol to a person¹s life. ³We¹ll do whatever it takes to get this man some dignity,² Barry said, toeing the grass where his friend is buried. ³How often does this happen, that a man outlives everybody who he was related to? Probably happens every day.²
Comments about this story? Mal-wheditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 205.
