More than 200 people gathered last Friday at the Islamic Society of Vermont’s mosque in South Burlington before caravanning to Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington to mourn and honor Ahmed Omar, chef-owner of Burlington’s Kismayo Kitchen. Among those attending the traditional brief Islamic funeral prayer at the mosque was Maryan Maalin, who said she had known Omar for almost two decades. Both were originally from Somalia and came to Burlington as refugees. “He touched so many lives,” Maalin said. “He was the owner of the first Somali restaurant in Vermont. He was always helping and deeply involved in the community. If you were new to town, he would say, ‘Come, stop by, and I will give you free food.'” When her 14-year-old son learned of Omar’s death, Maalin said, he cried for two hours. “That shows the impact he had,” she said. Omar died on August 13 at his New North End home, where his brother-in-law, Madey Shegow, found him in his bed early in the afternoon. Shegow said it appeared that Omar, who was 36, died in his sleep. According to the death certificate, no autopsy was performed. Ben Truman of the Vermont Department of Health said by email that the chief medical examiner’s investigation into the cause of death is under way. Shegow said he went to Omar’s house to check on him after the chef failed to show up at Kismayo that Sunday morning to prepare for a large catering job. Omar’s wife, Anisa Mohamed, and the couple’s two young daughters were out of the country in Africa at the time, Shegow said. It was a shock to find his brother-in-law dead, Shegow said. Omar had been at the home of Shegow and his wife, Omar’s sister, Asha Omar, until around 11 p.m. on Saturday evening. “He was a healthy guy,” Shegow said. Shegow said the family has not yet decided the future of Kismayo Kitchen, which Omar opened in 2019 and named for the Somali city of his birth. The chef-owner described his restaurant as multicultural, although he also hoped it would help “to bring the [Somali] culture to the community,” he told Seven Days shortly after he opened. It became known for Somali dishes, such as coconut chicken stew with rice, as well as all-American classics, including Philly cheesesteaks. But most of all, Kismayo Kitchen was known for its warm, energetic and ambitious…