My husband, Brad Sims, became an investor & business partner in Junior Gym beginning in 1983. Brad also worked at Junior Gym as an instructor from 1975 to 2007.
Brad drew a personal salary of approximately 1400.00 per month which he claimed on his personal income tax forms, while the income he earned as a business partner was deposited into a separate trust account by business partner Dermot Kiernan.
Brad passed away on January 13 after being diagnosed with cancer in 2005. I cared for him in our home, and that is where he died, safe in his own bed. The moment he passed he was looking into my eyes and holding my hand. Brad was not just my husband of 5 years, he was the love of my life. We met at the ages of 14 and 17 at a summer camp high in the Trinity mountains; Manzanita Ranch.
It was nothing short of a miracle that I was able to protect him from his rabid business associates during his last days. We were constantly hounded by these people who's only apparent goal was to get Brad to sign legal papers which would clinch their embezzlement of his estate. Brad never signed any of the papers they asked him to sign and as his death drew nearer they became frantic.
While I trying my best to help my husband prepare for his impending death, I became the subject of intense scrutiny and plotting subterfuge. His business partners did everything they could to ensure we enjoyed as little quality time together as possible. We rarely had visitors prior to the last months of his life and suddenly we were overwhelmed with many frantic phone calls and uninvited drop-by visits.
These business partners participated in an all-out attack to pressure Brad into making arrangements that would benefit them financially. It was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. He was dying and all they could think about was how to keep his money.
Brad's memorial service was held at Junior Gym 3 weeks after his death. I did not attend this service because I couldn't bear to look at these traitorous connivers so soon, and of course they were all there, working hard at looking sad.
What they were really sad about is the fact that Brad had a wife and that would disrupt their plan to embezzle his investments. I became the subject of vicious slander and gossip to a ridiculous extent. These people were unsuccessful in their attempts to force Brad to sign over his assets, so they concentrated on me next.
Brad's business partners were members of his own extended family and Dermot Kiernan. These people told anyone who would listen that Brad did not die a natural death, that his wife had killed him. They made phone calls to the owner of the building we lived in trying to convince him to evict me; they hired private investigators to continuously stalk me, go through my garbage, hack into my computer, and question my neighbors. The harassment was constant and intense.
Brad's own mother assured him that his "family" would take care of his business matters in an appropriate manner and not to worry because they would make sure his wife received the benefit of his investments. One of the last things he wrote his mother was to ask her again if she was sure I would be ok financially.
The betrayal of his business partners (extended family and Dermot) was not completely unexpected by me. But to witness their betrayal of Brad broke my heart. Towards the end he finally understood their selfish intentions, but it was too late. During his last weeks his "family" treated him like he was not altogether human and he asked me not to leave him alone with them. I knew then that he knew what their objectives were.
Within a week after Brad's death, his business partners began transferring his assets and property. I was devastated and grieving and I could do nothing to stop them. I had very little money and was emotionally spent. I started calling attorneys months later and was told a large retainer would be required. Now I understood why Brad's mother had tried to have his disability lump sum payment automatically deposited into her account. She wanted to make sure I had nothing when he died, so that I could not afford to hire an attorney.
Dermot Kiernan did not come forward to inform me of Brad's legal interest in Junior Gym and when I asked him he denied that Brad was ever a business partner.
I went to Junior Gym 6 weeks after he died to pick up his personal items and was told there was nothing there that was his, and that he was "only an employee."
Dermot Kiernan owes me an explanation and an accounting of my husband's legal and financial interest in Junior Gym.
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