On January 23, 2023, Shakespeare Lloyd Brissett unexpectedly passed away into God’s grace. An adventurer throughout life, he was 85 years old when he passed.

Shakespeare, affectionately known as Sha or Shay, began his life’s adventure on July 18, 1937. He was welcomed into this world, the only child of the union of Iris Alberta Miller and Roy Brissett. Born in Knockalva, Jamaica (Parish of Hanover), Sha attended schools in Jamaica until age 14 when he immigrated to the United States.

A Young Man in a New Land

As a young boy, Sha completed formal sacramental rites of an Episcopalian. He also enjoyed playing his native football (American soccer) and loved the ocean. After immigrating to the United States, Sha, his mother and stepfather settled into Cincinnati, Ohio where he graduated from Withrow High School.

After honorably serving in the United States Marine Corps, Shakespeare became a United States citizen. He went on to attend George Washington University in Washington, DC. Shakespeare made Washington, DC his home and his marriage to (the late) Belva Lee Brown produced his only children, daughters Monica Angelique and Melanie Adrianne. He began a career in telecommunications and held various positions in management, marketing, and field engineering for companies including Tele-Signal, TRT Telecommunications and GTE Americast Systems. He was even commended for his contributions to the NASA Gemini space flight program.

Family and Travel

His love for the beach set the tone for the family’s early vacations where they enjoyed time at east coast and Caribbean beaches. He taught Monica and Melanie to swim in the ocean before he taught them to swim in a pool. His Marine Corps service, career and his adventurous nature would allow him to see much of the world. He visited six continents (never making it to Antarctica) and saw many wonders of the world. He was equally comfortable conversing and establishing a new relationship with a stranger in a foreign land as he was with his neighbors. An affable person, he always made fast friends wherever he landed. He would send postcards from exotic places and Melanie would use the postcards to build collages on her bedroom and college dorm walls.

After his daughters completed college, Sha, Monica and Melanie established a Sunday routine where they would meet every Sunday at a D.C. Howard Johnson’s restaurant engaging in great conversation about politics, current events and everything in between while taking in a magnificent view of the city. A great conversationalist, Sha was a lifelong learner and a student of the world. His granddaughter Logan, his eldest grandchild, for sure inherited his thirst for knowledge.

The Gamesman

Sha was a sportsman and a gamesman. He was a sports fan and particularly enjoyed men’s college basketball because, in his words, “these kids play with heart”. His favorite American football team was the Oakland Raiders. Prior to their move to Vegas, he loved to root for the small market, gritty team. Not just a sideline fan, Sha enjoyed sports and was an avid tennis player for many years and enjoyed swimming, especially in the ocean.

He was competitive and enjoyed the strategy required to win. He loved to play cards and could often be found enjoying a game of bid whist, spades games with his daughters, pinochle, and poker. He also spent some time in the pool hall. In the casino, he would often try his luck at blackjack. Quietly competitive and always strategic, his eldest, Monica, inherited these qualities.

As active as he was with his sports, he was also active on the dance floor. He loved to dance, loved good music, and was a fixture at some of his local 80s discotheques. Calypso was a favorite music as well as classic R&B. When he didn’t need a dance beat, he would listen to the crooning of the Stylistics.

Seeing the World Through Many Lenses

Sha was a shutterbug. Monica and Melanie would often comment that he would show up to milestone events and celebrations “with a thousand cameras around his neck”. He even had a dark room in his house and gave Monica and Melanie strict instructions to ensure that they didn’t mishandle anything in a way that would prematurely expose his photos. They remember him being one of the first to develop prism photos and they delightedly showed them off to envious friends who were amazed at the high-tech production that hadn’t been introduced to most.

He was comfortable with diverse people and many cultures. He loved to learn about and capture the local charm, history and culture on film. He kept his cameras with him on international business trips capturing photos ranging from dangerous wildlife to beautiful and colorful landscapes. Friday night “movie” night would consist of Sha loading his photos into the projector and the family watching and sharing in his adventures. Sha’s youngest grandchild, granddaughter Kennedy, also enjoys seeing the world through many lenses like her grandfather. She inherited a keen eye and ability to capture the most breathtaking moments in life.

In addition to capturing special moments on film, Sha liked to chronicle milestones, document special moments and sayings, and always kept a pen and small notebook close by to document his observations and musings. Melanie has inherited this trait as a writer and pen and paper lover herself.

The Craftsman

A craftsman with meticulous attention to detail, Sha had beautiful handiwork and could use his hands to fix or build almost anything. Monica and Melanie had a high-tech in-home audio system as young kids, designed and installed by Sha. He also built a sturdy toy bench for Monica that was timeless enough to be passed down to her children. He could construct a tent out of tarp. A Swiss Army knife was a staple and he made sure that each of his four grandchildren had a handpicked and monogrammed knife from Grandpa Sha. His grandson Winston, an electrical engineering major, certainly inherited some of Sha’s meticulous attention to detail and ability to build and engineer.

On a wild "urban adventure" with grandkids Carter and Kennedy, Sha hiked through winding streets and byways on a search for bamboo to complete kites that he was making for them. He carefully provided kite making instructions for their future use. Sha’s kites were conversation pieces. They could fly high and were beautiful works of art. Carter shares artistic precision and excellence with his grandfather.

The Golden Years

After a lengthy career and time as a business owner residing in the northeast and mid-Atlantic, Sha said goodbye to cold winters and made Safety Harbor, Florida his home. Shakespeare spent his golden years at Walmart where he enjoyed the opportunity to meet and speak with diverse and new people daily. Sha enjoyed law dramas and liked to stay awake to catch the monologue on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Working at an Oldsmar, Florida Walmart, he made many new friends and associates and enjoyed the many conversations he had with customers and colleagues alike. Sha had rarely been sick or hospitalized in his life. If you didn’t know it, it would be difficult to know that he survived a stroke in 2018 at almost 81 years old and excitedly returned to work full time after his rehabilitation.

During the summer of 2022, while recovering from COVID-19, Monica and Melanie spent most of the summer in Safety Harbor with him. The grandkids joined them for some time as well. A daily routine included trips to the pier and Wednesday and Saturday evenings were reserved for picking up his Powerball ticket. In early 2023, Sha was completing doctor’s appointments to get a final sign off to return to work and he received encouraging news just three days prior to his passing.

A man of simple pleasures, Sha enjoyed a quiet life in Safety Harbor and loved showing off some of his favorite haunts to his children and grandchildren. He served as their Third Friday tour guide, proudly introducing his family to his Safety Harbor crew and happily sharing his favorite vendors and the “best” food to get. Visiting the Pier at the Marina was a daily commitment and he would share facts and trivia about the local wildlife. Whether stranger or friend, he would quickly engage in lively conversation while enjoying a breathtaking sunset over Tampa Bay.

Sha’s family has many special memories that include most recently his surprise 80th birthday celebration in Safety Harbor, FL and at one of his favorite Gulf of Mexico beaches with beautiful sand, clear water, and calm and gentle waves, somewhat a metaphor for the person Sha was. During the past summer, the family celebrated Independence Day with Sha, his kindhearted and loving neighbor, Kat, and her boys. His daughters were grateful to celebrate his 85th birthday at the Pier with family and friends.

Sha is survived by his two daughters, Monica Angelique Brissett and Melanie Adrianne Nix (Raymond Nix); four grandchildren, Logan Kaylee Botts, Winston Carlton Joseph Botts, Carter Lee Nix and Kennedy Louis Nix, and many loving friends and colleagues.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, February 19, 2023, at 2:00 PM at one of Sha’s favorite places, the Pier at the Safety Harbor Marina (covered seating area) at 110 Veteran’s Memorial Lane, Safety Harbor, FL 34695.

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