Historical November–December 2014 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Dr. Steve Brammeier built Kingsbury Animal Hospital on the site of an abandoned gas station in 1978.
The practice grew and he had a state-of-art facility erected on Skinker at Kingsbury. Clients come from our immediate area and many other neighborhoods in the St. Louis area.
After 36 years, Dr. Steve has sold the practice to his associate, Dr. Bret Shaw. Steve will remain at the clinic for about a year as an employee.
When Kingsbury Animal Hospital opened, it was significant for the neighborhood to see this new business established. Skinker DeBaliviere was less stable then but with a very active populace working to make it succeed. Steve graduated from the U n i v e r s i t y of Missouri veterinary school in 1975 and initially worked at a practice in North County.
He was not happy in the situation and contemplated returning to Columbia.
In August of 1977 he began working at the first emergency veterinary clinic in the area.
His son was diagnosed with a chronic disease the following month. Remaining in St. Louis near Children’s Hospital became important in his decision-making calculus.
He had attended the Art Fair on Kingsbury and had been impressed by the neighborhood.
He also remembered a boarded up gas station.
A family friend bought this structure and remodeled it as an animal hospital.
In June of 1978, Kingsbury Animal Hospital opened. Steve had one assistant then, Amy Zimmerman.
He initially worked nights at the emergency clinic and then fulltime at Kingsbury during the day.
He spent 26 years in that building of 1650 square feet.
He liked this part of the city, our neighborhood and the neighbors.
He originally lived on 61xx Westminster, was president of Rosedale Neighbors and helped put together the first Rags to Riches.
He always dreamed of having a more modern and larger building.
To use the same site on Skinker, gas lines would have to be removed from the property as well as thousands of gallons of contaminated water.
With neighborhood and governmental support, he proceeded and the new building now has replaced the former gas station.
There are about 3,000 active clients at Kingsbury (those seen in the last 3 years).
There are 13 staff members. Steve says that they are now on the 3rd generation of pets of people who were kids when the practice opened.
He has always wanted to have a facility that reduces animals’ fear.
After this current year, he may work part-time there but also has other interests he wants to pursue.
He is taking a class at Clayton Studios regarding voiceovers and is interested in cabaret performances.
He is likely to stay in St. Louis, in part because he works with his son Ben in his photography business. Steve feels that being here is like being a small town doctor in a city; the neighborhood is so inviting.
He has loved his days here.
It was really a good decision for him to locate here.
In Dr. Bret Shaw, we have a successor with a similar philosophy. Dr. Shaw is a 1999 graduate of the Mizzou vet school. At that time, he interviewed with Steve at Kingsbury but decided to take a position in Chesterfield instead.
In 2008 he did join the staff at Kingsbury.
He has respected the practice Steve built and decided he wished to take over.
The clients and staff are second to none.
They are very loyal people that you don’t find that often. Dr. Shaw wants to maintain the high quality standards of Kingsbury Animal Hospital and keep its standing in the community. Dr. Shaw and his wife live close by with their Hungarian p o i n t e r , Pipen.
His dog accompanied Dr. Shaw to Better Block where he greeted owners and pets that visited the virtual dog park.
My toy spaniels, Maisie and Max, liked the park a lot and I hope a real park can arise sometime soon.
On a personal note, Better Block was Max’ last civic appearance.
He succumbed to congestive heart failure on Oct. 15.
He was a very loving dog and Dr. Steve and the Kingsbury staff gave him excellent care. Max will always be in my heart.
Original photograph caption
Dr. Steve Brammeier. Descriptive caption supplied.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, November–December 2014.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2014_11.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
