Shane Keogh, a familiar figure behind the bar at the Grassroots Tavern and on stage as bassist for Iconicide and Lucifer Jones, died on Aug. 14.
He collapsed on his way to the New York Sports Club on Avenue A. The cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia, said his girlfriend, Blair Hopkins. He was 38 years old.
Keogh worked as a bartender the past three years at the Grassroots Tavern on St. Mark's Place.
"He loved it there and referred to it as the Supreme Court of Bartending jobs," Hopkins told us.
He also worked as a bartender at the now-closed Bar 82 on Second Avenue and Identity Bar on East Sixth Street, Blue Ruin and Bellevue in Hell's Kitchen, and at the first Duff's Brooklyn.
Keogh was a native New Yorker and grew up in the Bronx.
There is a wake for his friends and family tomorrow night from 5-9 at Walker Funeral Home in Woodhaven, Queens. His friends will be gathering afterwards at the Grassroots Tavern, 20 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenues. (The bar has a memorial fund going to help pay for funeral-related expenses.)
"He liked to refer to himself as 'Captain Fun' behind the bar," Hopkins said. "He was the kind of person who would do absolutely anything to elicit a laugh."
[Keough, left, at the Grassroots]
There is a public "Memories of Shane Keogh" Facebook page here.
Photos courtesy of Blair Hopkins
