I hadn’t seen Shea Grauer in a long time. So, I was happy to see him when we were both working a bridal luncheon Friday, February 17th, at Mollie Fontaine Lounge. He was bartending and I was playing the piano.
Around 1 p.m. I tried to get Grauer’s attention at the piano. I said something like, “Hey! Look here!” He turned around and we both laughed. I told him how sorry I was about his brother, Beau, who was killed last summer. I asked him how he was doing. He said he was doing okay. But he looked sad. I told him I lost my older brother years ago.
I think he told me I sounded good on the piano. He was smiling.
That was probably the last live piano music Grauer heard. He lost his life about 12 hours later. It was reported he was killed in Midtown. A robbery.
I didn’t find that out until I saw a Facebook post from his great friend, Leanna Tedford, that next afternoon. I was stunned. Like everybody who knew him.
I started thinking about how Grauer and I had known each other over the decades. I originally knew him from bartending. He made many a Beefeater gin martini “up with three olives” — as I requested them — back in the day.
Grauer was just one of those people you liked even if you weren’t a close friend. He was laid-back. He had a great sense of humor. And he had a great sense of style. He was wearing a bulky black-and-white and maybe gray sweater when we talked at the luncheon. I wondered if he was wearing that sweater that night.
I wanted to write a story and post a photo of Grauer, but the only one I almost definitely remember taking of him was at a party in October 2019 at The Beauty Shop Restaurant, where he was manager/bartender. I’m sure I took more photos of him over the decades we knew each other, but I couldn’t find any of them. This particular party was held by his boss/best buddy/biggest champion Karen Carrier, the restaurant’s owner, to open Back Dō at Mi Yard, her open-air restaurant behind The Beauty Shop Restaurant.
The opening party turned into a party for the cast and crew of Bluff City Law, which was filmed in Memphis. Everybody, including me, wanted to have their photo taken with Jimmy Smits.
The original party was supposed to end at 8 p.m., but Carrier kept it going until 10 p.m. because so many of her staff worked on the movie. Grauer was one of them. I still remember how proud he was of that. He went on to work in the film industry in New Orleans.
Then on Thursday, February 23rd, I got a text from Allison Cox with a photo of me she had taken with the bridal party at the Mollie Fontaine luncheon. The luncheon was for Sophie Cox, now Sophie Terrell, who married Henry Terrell. I asked Allison if she, by any chance, had any photos with Grauer in them. She did.
Of course, I instantly thought Grauer had something to do with finding a never-before-published photo of himself to go with my story.
Here’s information that Carrier posted on social media about the funeral arrangements and an event to celebrate Grauer’s life:
“The celebration and funeral for our love SHEA GRAUER will be on April 1st at 11 a.m. at Immaculate Conception on Central — a huge Wake at The Beauty Shop and DKDC to follow as it should be — we will send him off in style with tears, music, food, libations, and of course Dolly Parton and a second line —
“Yes this is on April Fools Day and I think it’s perfect. He will love it —
“Wrap your love around SHEA and his family — hold them tight in your thoughts and prayers — we all have Lost a Gem …”
