Grieving deeply, Kate Spade's older sister told The Star on Tuesday that her famous designer sister suffered debilitating mental illness for the last three or four years and was self-medicating with alcohol. 
 
 Spade's apparent suicide on Tuesday, at age 55 inside the bedroom of her New York Park Avenue apartment, "was not unexpected by me," Reta Saffo, Spade's older sister by two years, told The Star by email from her house in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
 
 Family members struggled mightily to help Spade but to little avail, she said. "Sometimes you simply cannot SAVE people from themselves!" she wrote. Spade seemed concerned how hospitalization might harm the image of the "happy-go-lucky" Kate Spade brand, she said. 
 
 She saw how her sister seemed fixated on Robin Williams on the day, in August 2014, that he committed suicide by hanging. 
 
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 "I think there was a plan even as far back as then," Saffo said. 
 
 In November 2001, Reta Brosnahan Saffo, Kate Spade's sister, was a parent volunteer adding some holiday color to Pembroke Hill School on State Line Road. She now lives in New Mexico. Keith Myers kmyers@kcstar.com 
 
 Saffo emailed The Star shortly after it posted an online story about Spade's death. Spade was born and raised Katherine Brosnahan in Kansas City, graduating from St. Teresa's Academy and then attending the University of Kansas before transferring to Arizona State University. Saffo contacted The Star to say that the story had misspelled Spade's childhood nickname, Katy. 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Star made the correction and asked Saffo if she would speak by phone about her sister or if there was anything else about her that she wanted reflected. Saffo responded that she was not willing to take a call and had taken a sedative. She noted her husband is a medical doctor. 
 
 She continued: "I will say this was not unexpected by me. I'd flown out to Napa and NYC several times in the past 3-4 years to help her to get the treatment she needed (inpatient hospitalization). She was always a very excitable little girl and I felt all the stress/pressure of her brand (KS) may have flipped the switch where she eventually became full-on manic depressive. 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK Kate Spade, a fashion designer known for her sleek handbags, was found hanged in the bedroom of her Park Avenue apartment in an apparent suicide, police confirmed at a press conference Tuesday. 
 
 "I'd come so VERY close to getting her to go in for treatment (to the same place Catherine Zeta-Jones went for her successful bipolar treatment program). I'd spoken with them on the phone (not telling them exactly who the patient would be). They agreed to fly in and talk with her and take her with them to the treatment center. 
 
 "She was all set to go — but then chickened out by morning. I even said I (would) go with her and be a 'patient' too (she liked that idea) I said we could talk about it all — our childhood, etc. That I could help her fill in any blanks she might have. 
 
 "That seemed to make her more comfortable, and we'd get sooo close to packing her bags, but — in the end, the 'image' of her brand (happy-go-lucky Kate Spade) was more important for her to keep up. She was definitely worried about what people would say if they found out." 
 
 Spade's husband and business partner, Andy Spade, assisted in trying to coax her into treatment, making plans on how it would work and who would take care of their daughter, Frances Beatrix, known as Bea, Saffo said. "Nothing ever came of it." 
 
 "After numerous attempts, I finally let go," Saffo wrote. "Sometimes you simply cannot SAVE people from themselves! One of the last things she said to me was, 'Reta, I know you hate funerals and don't attend them, but for me would you PLEASE come to MINE, at least. Please!' I know she perhaps had a plan, but she insisted she did not." 
 
 Saffo said her sister was at a hotel in Santa Fe when she saw the television news report of Robin Williams' death. 
 
 "We were freaked out/saddened," Saffo said, "but she kept watching it and watching it over and over. I think the plan was already in motion even as far back as then." 
 
 Saffo ended her email about her sister: "She was a dear little person. So dear — so kind, so funny. I'll miss our 6-7-hr-long phone conversations between NY and NM. 
 
 "I'm off to bed for a good cry." 
 
 To get help 
 
 Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. ||||| One day after the apparent suicide of his daughter Kate Spade, her nearly 90-year-old father said she'd be gratified to know that something good might come from the worldwide discussion of her death. 
 
 "One thing we feel is that any talk that they do that helps somebody else, Katy would have liked that," her father, Frank Brosnahan, said from his house in Kansas City on Wednesday. "She was always giving and charitable. If that helped anybody avoid anything — fine, she'd be delighted." 
 
 Brosnahan said he was aware that the most famous of his six children was having troubles. "She'd been taking some pills, which I advised her not to take," he shared. But he also said that he spoke to her on Monday, the evening before she died. 
 
 "Well, I don't know what happened," he said. "The last I talked with her, the night before last, she was happy planning a trip to California to look at colleges. She doted on her daughter." 
 
 Premium content for only $0.99 For the most comprehensive local coverage, subscribe today. 
 
 Spade's daughter, 13-year-old Frances Beatrix, was not home when her mother, at age 55, apparently hanged herself in their New York condominium. 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK Kate Spade, a fashion designer known for her sleek handbags, was found hanged in the bedroom of her Park Avenue apartment in an apparent suicide, police confirmed at a press conference Tuesday. 
 
 Andy Spade File photo 
 
 Spade's husband and business partner, Andy Spade — the brother of actor and comedian David Spade — told The New York Times on Wednesday that he and his wife had been living apart for the last 10 months but they had no plans to divorce. They maintained different apartments a few blocks from each other, continued to take vacations together, and their daughter split her time between them. 
 
 Spade, in a lengthy statement, also said his wife began suffering serious bouts of depression about six years ago. 
 
 The day of Spade's death, her 57-year-old sister, Reta Saffo, emailed The Star to say her sister's suicide was "not unexpected." She told of how her sister battled mental illness, perhaps bipolar disorder, for several years, and eschewed efforts to be hospitalized. Her revelations about her sister, whose name is synonymous with a billion-dollar fashion brand, were spread by media outlets worldwide. 
 
 Their brother, Earl Brosnahan, told The New York Times that Saffo had been estranged from the family for more than 10 years, and that Spade was the only sibling she had been speaking to. He was taken aback that Saffo "should surface now with very definitive statements that I think are grossly inaccurate.” 
 
 But their father, Frank Brosnahan, who contacted The Star on Wednesday, supported Saffo's decision to openly discuss her sister's death and struggles. 
 
 "Well, that's up to her," he said. "She's a grown woman and we love her and she means nothing but love for her sister." 
 
 He said he suspects and hopes that his daughter's body may come home to Kansas City. 
 
 "I think so," said Brosnahan, speaking broadly for the family. "At least that's what I would like. I'd like for her to be buried with her mother. They were very close." 
 
 In 1999, Kate Spade (center) came home from New York for the annual Amy Thompson Run to Daylight to benefit the Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City. She attended a benefit reception with (from left) her mother, June Brosnahan (who died in 2010), Byron G. Thompson, Karen VanAsdale and Jeanne Thompson. Laura R. Hockaday The Kansas City Star 
 
 Spade is also survived by three other sisters, Missy, Ann and Eve. Her mother, June Mullen Brosnahan, a former flight attendant and Realtor, died in March 2010 and is buried in Kansas City's Calvary Cemetery, 6901 Troost Ave. Attempts to reach other family members were unsuccessful. 
 
 But in a statement to the New York Daily News and other outlets, the family said, "We are all devastated by today’s tragedy. We loved Kate dearly and will miss her terribly. We would ask that our privacy be respected as we grieve during this very difficult time." 
 
 Spade is also the aunt of television actress Rachel Brosnahan — Earl Brosnahan's daughter — who won a Golden Globe this year for her starring role in Amazon's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." 
 
 Rachel Brosnahan won best performance by an actress in a television series - musical or comedy for "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards. She is the niece of Kate Spade. Jordan Strauss Invision/AP 
 
 On Instagram, the young actress posted a video of Spade dancing to a mariachi band and wrote: 
 
 "Knowing Katy, this is how she would want to be remembered. She had a light that words can’t capture but touched everyone she came into contact with. She was exceedingly kind, beautifully sensitive, insanely talented, funny as heck and one of the most generous people I have ever known. She was effervescent. Hug your loved ones extra tight today." 
 
 Frank Brosnahan was asked how his family was faring. 
 
 "I think they're all right," he said. "We're a large family and all close. We'll get through it. 
 
 "But we certainly miss our bright, sun-shiney little person." ||||| FILE - In this May 13, 2004 file photo, designer Kate Spade poses with handbags and shoes from her next collection in New York. Law enforcement officials say Tuesday, June 5, 2018, that New York fashion... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this May 13, 2004 file photo, designer Kate Spade poses with handbags and shoes from her next collection in New York. Law enforcement officials say Tuesday, June 5, 2018, that New York fashion designer Kate Spade has been found dead in her apartment in an apparent suicide. (AP Photo/Bebeto... (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — Kate Spade, a fashion designer known for her sleek handbags, was found hanged in the bedroom of her Park Avenue apartment Tuesday in an apparent suicide, law enforcement officials said. 
 
 The 55-year-old was found by housekeeping at about 10:20 a.m. Her husband and business partner Andy Spade was in the house at the time. It's not clear how long she had been dead and the medical examiner will perform an autopsy. 
 
 The couple's 13-year-old daughter was at school and officials said a note was found at the scene telling her it was not her fault. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. 
 
 A crime scene truck was parked outside their building on Manhattan's Upper East Side, and barriers had been set up to keep back reporters and gawkers who were arriving to the building. 
 
 The company she founded, Kate Spade New York, now has over 140 retail shops and outlet stores across the U.S. and more than 175 shops internationally. 
 
 Julia Curry, a spokeswoman for the company, said that "Kate will be dearly missed" and "our thoughts are with Andy and the entire Spade family at this time." 
 
 Kate Spade was born Katherine Brosnahan and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. 
 
 She was working as an accessories editor at Mademoiselle magazine when she launched her company with husband Andy in their New York apartment in 1993. She started the company based on six shapes of bags that she thought every working woman needed. It created a smash. 
 
 "I grew up in the Midwest, where you have to have it (a fashion item) because you like it, not because you're supposed to have it," she told the AP in 2004. "For our customers, fashion is in the right place in their life. It's an adornment, not an obsession." 
 
 From the original boxy handbags, she expanded into shoes, luggage and other accessories, as well as a home line, stationery, and three books. Spade won multiple awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America and was named a "giant of design" by House Beautiful magazine. 
 
 "As an accessory, a great bag that takes the outfit somewhere else is interesting," she told the AP in a 2000 interview. 
 
 She walked away from the company in 2007, a year after it was acquired from the Neiman Marcus Group for $125 million by the company then known as Liz Claiborne Inc. 
 
 Coach, now known as Tapestry, bought the Kate Spade brand last year for $2.4 billion, seeking to broaden its appeal. 
 
 Meanwhile, Spade and her husband started a new handbag company a few years ago, Frances Valentine. And she changed her name to Katherine Noel Frances Valentine Brosnahan Spade. 
 
 Her brother-in-law is actor and comedian David Spade. 
 
 "Kate Spade was more than a designer," tweeted actress Lena Dunham. "She had a quirky visual language that captivated Bat Mitzvah girls and artists alike. She was also a staple of NYC who spread good will. My heart breaks for her family. Thank you, Kate, from one of the millions you made feel beautiful." 
 
 Fashion designer Kenneth Cole tweeted: "She alone didn't change the handbag world but she was an inspiring accessory. #KateSpade #RIP" 
 
 "My grandmother gave me my first Kate Spade bag when I was in college. I still have it," tweeted Chelsea Clinton. "Holding Kate's family, friends and loved ones in my heart." 
 
 "Kate Spade's tragic passing is a painful reminder that we never truly know another's pain or the burden they carry," tweeted Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter. "If you are struggling with depression and contemplating suicide, please, please seek help."
– The apparent suicide of fashion designer Kate Spade is a tragedy, but not a huge surprise to older sister Reta Saffo. She tells the Kansas City Star that Spade had been struggling with mental illness for years and the stress and pressure of her famous brand may have "flipped the switch where she eventually became full-on manic depressive." The death, she says, "was not unexpected by me." Spade was found hanged in her New York City apartment on Tuesday. Saffo says that in 2014, her sister was transfixed by news of Robin Williams' suicide by hanging . "She kept watching it and watching it over and over," Saffo says. "I think the plan was already in motion even as far back as then." Spade, whose husband, Andy Spade, was reportedly home at the time of her death, left a note telling 13-year-old daughter Frances it wasn't her fault. More: Meanwhile, Spade's family is "disgusted and saddened that at this time of great sorrow, Kate’s sister who has been estranged from the entire family for more than 10 years would choose to surface with unsubstantiated comments," a family source tells People. "Her statements paint a picture of someone who didn’t know her at all." Saffo, whose husband is a medical doctor, says she tried for years to get her sister the help she needed, but Spade kept backing out of plans to get treatment. "She was definitely worried about what people would say if they found out," says Saffo. Kathy Griffin was among many celebrities paying tribute to Spade, the BBC reports. "I decided to wear head-to-toe Kate Spade to an event tonight to honor her contributions to fashion and women in business," she tweeted. "Rest easy, Kate..and thank you for making so many women feel wonderful." The US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 1-800-273-8255.