Friends, family and customers of Joseph “Joey” Brewer gathered under the sun at Lincoln Park’s Shelter 3 today, April 18th to share memories of the co-owner and head butcher of The Swinery in West Seattle.

A collective of Brewer’s past and present co-workers from the culinary world banded together this morning to put together a feast of pulled pork, potato salad … even Jamieson Irish Whiskey tiramisu (in honor of one of Brewer’s favorite libations) for all to enjoy.

Joey Brewer, described by a friend as “a big, big burly guy with a huge mustache but the biggest heart” passed away on April 8 at the age of 35 and, for the record, The Swinery is still open for business after losing him.

According to The Swinery’s website, Joseph Brewer was a native of Washington who “discovered his passion for cuisine during his formative years in New York City,” where he cooked for several restaurants. He returned to Seattle in his twenties and ran into “personal setbacks that threatened to temporarily derail his culinary dreams.” Instead of derailing, Brewer joined the Farestart Culinary Arts Job Training Program in 2007. He went on to work in supervisory positions at The 5 Spot in Queen Anne and West Seattle’s Jak’s Grill before finding his home at The Swinery.

In honor of Brewer’s life as a culinary force and human being, the following memories were shared by those in his life.

Liza Danger was Brewer’s ex-fiancé who knew him for 14 years. Even after they called off their wedding plans, the two stayed very close.

“I met Joey when I was 14 years old and Joey saved my life and several years later he came back into mine and I like to think that I helped save his,” Danger said. “He went through a lot and came out completely on top.”

Danger spoke of the day Brewer decided he was going to leave Jak’s Grill to pursue his dream of becoming a butcher. She said his butchering skills had amazed his teachers at the Farestart Culinary program.

“He chose to leave (Jak’s) for his passion of butchery and it just so happened that the day we decided to drive around and see if we could find a butcher shop in the area Gabriel Claycamp was in the back of The Swinery working on construction of the space and they just hit it off.”

“When Claycamp left (in July of 2010) he really wanted the responsibility and stood up and offered to move forward with the business and that’s where he was today and I’m very proud of him. The work ethic he had was incredible.”

Danger had spoken with Brewer only a few days before his passing and she said, “Everything seemed like it was going so well.”

In the wake of his death, she said, “His community is devastated but it’s brought everybody closer together … I’ve never lost anybody close to me like this but my co-manager said it best, ‘We now have our own little family.”

Danger chose Lincoln Park for the celebration because his father worked the ferry lines in the sound and the greenbelt was Danger and Brewer’s favorite spot to walk their two pit bulls.

“And I’ll tell you this: he was hilarious,” she said. “That guy was so silly. I think that’s the thing people are going to miss the most is how much he made everybody laugh.”

Ryan Kraetsch is a culinary arts student at South Seattle Community College who will graduate in a month with plans to become a butcher himself. He spent many hours at The Swinery as an intern learning from Brewer.

“He was a big influence to me in terms of becoming a butcher,” Kraetsch said. “Just hanging out with him in the shop – he was a really down-to-earth guy that was always excited to share the knowledge he had. He didn’t just have us in there helping, he wanted to make sure he was explaining and teaching the process so that was a big part of it for me.”

Kraetsch said once he graduates he’ll be hitting the job market in search of a butchery position. He said he is hoping to land a job with Bob’s Quality Meats in the Columbia City area.

“If it wasn’t for Joey and The Swinery I wouldn’t have that opportunity.”

Amie Collier was Brewer’s girlfriend and has worked at The Swinery since it opened on California Ave. in 2009.

“He had the biggest heart,” Collier said. “He was a big teddy bear and he wore his heart on his sleeve. He looked rough around the edges but if you knew him he was the total opposite. He was a big, big burly guy with a huge mustache but the biggest heart.”

Collier told the story of Brewer using his life savings of quarters ($650) to buy her 5-year-old daughter a puppy last Christmas. “He bought that dog with quarters and that was every penny he had ever saved.”

“I think he kind of felt like he had a family structure,” she said. “He had a girlfriend who had a child and he accepted my child as his own. He loved all of his friends, he loved Liza, he loved everyone in his life … he loved everybody that was close to him no matter if you were in his past or in his present he made sure that he had room for you in his life.”

“It doesn’t matter how he died, if he committed suicide, if he died of a drug overdose, if he had a heart attack or if he got hit by a car. The fact of the matter is that he’s gone and he’s going to be really sorely missed.”

“He was just a great man and we just love him. We love Joey.”