Mike Brassil dies, popular Irish musician

Mike Brassil played guitar and sang ballads at gatherings and Irish saloons here. He was a well-known Irish musician.

He was a past grand marshal of the Ancient Order of Hibernians’ St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dogtown and for decades helped organize that annual affair. Parade watchers may remember him as he sang on the back of a firetruck.

He was one of the few musicians here who could sing the Irish national anthem in Gaelic, fellow musicians said.

Michael Joseph Brassil died Monday (July 18, 2011) at his home in south St. Louis. He was 70 and had been diagnosed in October with cancer of the esophagus, his family said Wednesday.

Mr. Brassil was a past owner of four Ziebart franchises here, but that was just his day job. What he loved was to sing patriotic Irish tunes and recruit members for the Hibernians.

For six years, he was president of the Cardinal Glennon Division, one of the Hibernians’ five divisions in St. Louis and Southern Illinois.

He was elected St. Louis Hibernian of the Year and was past president of the Missouri State Hibernians. He helped secure St. Louis as the site for the national Hibernian convention in 2014.

He grew up in the New York City borough of Queens and served in the Army before working as a photographer taking family portraits at Famous-Barr and other department stores across the country. That job brought him to St. Louis.

He took night classes and earned a degree at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

For more than 30 years, he played Irish folk music in such bands as the Sixteen Strings, Limerick and Blackthorn. He often played with local musicians Tommy McEvoy and Gary Burger.

He was a longtime favorite at the Illinois State Fair and organized the music for the Irish Country Fair in Dogtown. “He helped preserve Irish culture,” said Jim Wahl, a lawyer and a St. Louis Municipal Court judge.

George Clough, a retired lawyer in Glendale, said, “He’ll be missed by the Irish community here in St. Louis.”

Visitation will be 3 to 8 p.m. today at O’Sullivan Muckle Mortuary, 13996 Olive Boulevard in Chesterfield, with a Hibernian service there at 7 p.m. The funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. James the Greater Church, 1360 Tamm Avenue. Burial will be at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

Among the survivors are three sons, Patrick Brassil and Daniel Brassil, both of St. Louis, and Sean Brassil of Rock Hill; and two sisters, Sheila Dupuy of Galloway Township, N.J., and Maureen Tarnagorski of Massapequa, N.Y.