Brandin, purveyor of poultry, fish to LV resorts, dies at 87

Friday, Feb. 4, 2005 | 9:03 a.m.

Leif Birger Brandin, a Las Vegas businessman who at one time co-owned the largest distributor of poultry, fish and kosher products in Southern Nevada, died Wednesday. He was 87.

He died at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals Siena Campus.

Brandin's business, Desert Poultry and Seafood, is credited with being one of the first local retail/wholesale markets, selling food to everyone from housewives to chefs of resort gourmet restaurants.

Brandin's late wife and business partner, Margaret "Tucky" Brandin, is credited with introducing the 50-cent shrimp cocktail to Las Vegas by providing giant shrimp to the Golden Gate hotel on Fremont Street. Now served with small bay shrimp and selling for 99-cents, it remains the downtown casino's trademark snack.

Services for Leif Brandin, a Las Vegas and Henderson resident of 46 years, will be 1 p.m. Saturday in Palm Chapel, Eastern. Visitation will be 2-7 p.m. today at Palm Mortuary, 7600 S. Eastern Ave. Interment will be in Palm Valley View Memorial Park.

Founded in the early 1950s, Desert Poultry on South Main Street was known for offering foods that were not sold in other parts of the valley, including free-range chicken, fresh lump crab meat, fresh turkeys for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and various fish and poultry seasonings.

Brandin, a retired Pasadena, Calif., firefighter, joined the company in 1959 after he married Margaret "Tucky" Tuck. She was an established food expert who worked with area chefs to create menus for the hotels.

Tucky Brandin died in February 1999 at age 84 after suffering a heart attack while visiting her ailing husband at Desert Springs Hospital.

During Leif Brandin's tenure at the family-operated business, the company introduced to Las Vegas Alaskan King crab legs, which quickly gained popularity in Strip resort gourmet restaurants in the early 1960s and remains a popular dish.

Desert Poultry remained a major food supplier in Las Vegas through the 1960s but closed after major supermarkets were established in the valley, selling the same products at discount prices.

Brandin was born Feb. 2, 1918, in Pasadena. He was active in the Elks, Masons, Shriners and Optimists.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Brandin of Henderson; two sons, James Brandin of Sandy, Utah, and Leif Eric Brandin of Henderson; two daughters, Patricia Adler of San Clemente, Calif., and Barbara Serapion of Peachtree, Calif.; a brother, Bob Brandin of Sedona, Ariz.; a sister, Betty Tendick pf Pittsburgh; 13 grandchildren; and 12 great grandchildren.

The family said donations can be made in Leif Brandin's memory to the John Wayne Cancer Foundation, 2200 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404.