North Fork Mourns Braun's Patriarch, 93: 'He Was A Great Man'

NORTH FORK, NY — The North Fork is mourning a man who leaves a long legacy: James "Jim" Homan, the patriarch of Braun Seafood Company and former Southold Town supervisor, died on Monday at 93.

Services are set for Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home, located at 13805 Main Road in Mattituck.

According to his son Ken, Jim, born in 1928, grew up farming in Riverhead, a direct descendant of Mordecai Homan, one of the original settlers of Cutchogue in the late 1600s. In 1949 he began working for George Braun, a local charter boat captain who forayed into the bait and oyster business, at his seafood shack in Cutchogue, Ken said.

It was there that his father met the love of his life, his wife of 66 years, Elizabeth "Betty" Homan; their June wedding was held at Braun’s.

Jim bought the company from Braun in 1961, often making multiple trips a day into New York City to pick up shipments of bait in those early years, his son said.

⁣"As the local scallop industry exploded in the mid-1960s, Jim grew Braun’s with it," his obituary read. "The company wholesaled Peconic Bay scallops all over the United States, and according to Jim, Braun was the only business to ever export them out of the country. ⁣"

His father, Ken said, traveled extensively to meet both suppliers and customers, visiting “every fish house worth knowing from Galveston to Nova Scotia. He was fiercely proud of the commitment to quality and freshness the Braun brand represented nationwide in the seafood industry — which he worked tirelessly to create and uphold."

Ken, from his position at the helm, navigated Braun's wholesale growth into diversified seafood products, constructing the current fish market in 1988, the year he stepped down as president of Braun after being faced with health issues.⁣

⁣"Jim was self-taught in refrigeration, mechanics, race car driving, gardening, and anything else he set his mind to. In addition, he served Southold Town for almost a decade as both councilman and supervisor, elected several times having proudly never lost a single district in the town," his family said. "His wealth of knowledge, compassion, sense of humor, devotion to Braun and our community is irreplaceable, and he will be deeply missed by all who knew him. Rest in peace, Jim. We know you are enjoying some fish and chips with Betty up in heaven."

Speaking with Patch, Ken Homan said his father's roots on the North Fork run deep, dating back to the 1600s; stories of family members who fought in the Revolutionary War and who were wounded in Gettysburg dot the landscape of his family's legacy. "His history is phenomenal," Ken said.

Jim's grandfather Dennis Homan served as the supervisor of Riverhead Town; his father was a policeman and a duck farmer, Ken said. "Two of his uncles had duck farms, one across from BJ's, the old Homan duck farm. My father worked on the duck farms as a kid," he said. "He told me stories of cooling down horses in the Sound after plowing. He ran the last thrashing machine, going from farm to farm," he said.

His parents shepherded Braun's from what was once a spot selling bait, and seafood, with a little oyster shop, to what it is today, Ken said.

"Peconic Bay scallops are what put Braun's on the map," Ken said. "He bought and sold scallops at such a tremendous volume during the 1950s and '60s — that's how Braun's evolved."

When Ken graduated college, his father asked him to write a paper on where he thought the family should take the business. "He wanted to see if I'd gotten an education or not," Ken laughed.

Soon after came the seafood market, complete with 10,000 lb. holding tanks for lobsters and a cutting room to prepare food for restaurants. "It became a much bigger company," Ken said.

His father, Ken said, devoted much of his life to public service and embodied a true sense of community-mindedness.

"This is a huge loss," Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said. "He was deeply committed to this community and a leader for so many. He spoke with authority and commanded respect for his straight-forward manner and the knowledge and common sense he shared."

His father imbued lifelong lessons, Ken said.

"He taught me that important work ethic — what it takes to get ahead in life. To work hard, educate yourself, keep trying harder. And to do everything the right way. He was adamant about that," Ken said. "At Braun's we sell the best quality fish we can get. He taught me to do it right; don't take shortcuts and live by the book. And that's what we do."

His father was a steadfast presence at the daily business until 1988, when, after a bout with angina, it was suggested he retire. But still, Jim continued to help with refrigeration, the lobster tanks, and all the day-to-day business matters that he'd handled for decades.

"We were able to pick his brain even after he retired," Ken said.

It was only in May of 2021, when his father was gardening, and was brushing off his pants and slipped, breaking his hip, that his decline began, Ken said. After a brief stay at Peconic Landing he was soon living back at home with his family.

Although his father died of old age, Ken said, he also had never fully regained his joy after the loss of his beloved wife. "He died of a broken heart," Ken said. "My mother died six years ago. The were together for 66 years. And thankfully, they're together now."

His mother was also a familiar face at Braun's Ken's said — as is he, having begun his journey at the business when he was 6 years old, earning a penny a pack, packaging bait.

Braun's has long been a family business and together, each member has worked together to weather economic struggles and hard times, managing to keep ahead through his father's mantra of hard, honest work, Ken said.

Describing his father, Ken said: "He was an old New England-style gentleman. And he had an incredible mind, whether it be politics or dealing with people around the world."

When the Peconic Bay scallops first saw a decline due to the brown tide in 1982, his father brought in scholars from the Isle of Man to study the situation, he said.

But beyond his life as a public servant and business owner, Ken remembered the man who was a loving and devoted father.

"He was a great dad. He taught me how to eel, clam, scallop — how to fish. And he loved to hunt. We did a lot of duck and goose hunting when I was a kid. The North Fork is a hunting paradise and he taught me not only how to hunt but how to hunt properly."'

His father, he said, loved walking his beloved Labs on the beach; he and his mother also enjoyed traveling later in life.

"He was a good mentor and he was a great role model," Ken said. "I've tried to emulate him in every way I could. He was just an incredible man."

If he could speak to him just one more time, Ken said: "I would tell him what I told him every time I saw him — that I loved him."