THE FORT WORTH PRESS - Friday, January 26, 1962
WOMAN DIES IN HOTEL FIRE
One of Fort Worth's most colorful hotel owners was burned to death early Friday in her expensively furnished suite at the Waco Hotel, 110 1/2 E. 15th.
Miss Eunice Gray, about 81 was found burned beyond recognition in her locked, airtight second floor room.
The fire was reported at 5:09 a.m. when a passerby spotted smoke pouring from the front windows of the walk-up hotel.
When firemen arrived they found the front door of the hotel padlocked from the inside and had to crash through. They rammed their way into Miss Gray's room to find it in flames.
District 2 Fire Chief Lester Baker said the fire, apparently started by a cigaret, had been burning for six or seven hours. He said the woman's bed had burned out from under her.
He said her three-room suite was filled with memories - old trinkets, souvenirs, paintings, jewelry, magazines and newspaper.
The blaze was extinguished at 5:35 a.m.
Miss Gray was the only occupant of the hotel, one of Fort Worth's oldest.
Baker estimated damage at $350 to the contents and $150 to the building.
Miss Gray's death marked the sixth fire fatality for both the city and county this year.
Oldtimers with the police department said Miss Gray had operated the downtown hotel for about 40 years. She befrinded many policemen who needed help.
Miss Gray's body was taken to Owens-Brumly, which was trying to locate survivors Friday.
Fort Worth's belle of the gay sporting set more than 50 years ago lost her life today in a fire in a small hotel.
Eunice Gray, 81, her body badly burned was found beside her four-poster bed in her richly furnished appartment in the Waco Hotel, 110 1/2 E. 15th St.
District Fire Chief Lester Baker said the slow burning fire probably started around the bed, possibly from a cigaret.
Today few people know her name. For the past few years she has kept to herself in the hotel she owned. Occasionally she hired a taxi, loaded it with fruits and grocries and called on some of her old women friends in the County Home for the Aged.
Eunice, as she told everyone to call her didn't need for anything. She had saved her money, invested it in real estate and bank stock.
Her old friends, from the 1905-1920 period read like a Who's Who of Texas - cattle barons, oil men, and yes even preachers.
The reason she never married, she vowed, was because the only man she ever loved was a priest. They were childhood sweethearts in Missouri. She was 12, he 15, the best dancers in the county. After be became a priest, he offered to give up the cloth and marry her but she said no. The church was his life.
One of Fort Worth's best known preachers lamblased her from the pulpit. He kept hammering away at "Hells Half-Acre." Of course that is where Eunice lived.
"He called me up and told me he was going to run me out of town," she once told a press reporter. "I told him it wasn't necessary. I was nailing up my place and going on a trip to South America."
She did and didn't return for five years.
A few months before his death, this same preacher tottered up the stairs to her walk-up hotel.
"I've given up trying to save your soul." he told her. "But I guess you are a lot better than many prople who pretend to be good."
She went to his funeral
Shortly afterwards, the priest became ill in another state. His family wired Eunice. She rushed to his bedside and was there when he died. She wore black to his funeral.
Her hotel was in a shabby part of the business district just off Lower Main St. But her apartment was furnished like something out of Europe. An old-fashioned bed with over hanging canopy, French tapestry, a woven picture, dominated one wall. Many vases, pictures, a mahogany china closet containing dainty pieces saved over a lifetime.
Religious quotations hung from one wall. A picture of Christ (a gift from the priest) was sandwiched between two nudes.
Did Eunice ger religion in her twilight years?
"I was never really bad" she once said. "After all there was only one commandment that I broke regulary."
At 5:09 a.m. today a passerby saw smoke spilling from the hotel windows. He called the Fire Department. The fire was tapped out at 5:35 a.m.
Damage was light, about $350 to the contents and $150 to the hotel.
Eunice, who knew almost everybody in downtown Fort Worth before, World War I, died alone.
No other occupants were in the 20 room hotel.
NOTE; Ermine went by several names during her lifetime. In her brothers obituary in 1951 she is listed as Ermine Crump. In Fort Worth she was known as Eunice Gray. Some historians believe that she was Etta Place the girlfriend of the Sundance Kid.
WOMAN DIES IN HOTEL FIRE
One of Fort Worth's most colorful hotel owners was burned to death early Friday in her expensively furnished suite at the Waco Hotel, 110 1/2 E. 15th.
Miss Eunice Gray, about 81 was found burned beyond recognition in her locked, airtight second floor room.
The fire was reported at 5:09 a.m. when a passerby spotted smoke pouring from the front windows of the walk-up hotel.
When firemen arrived they found the front door of the hotel padlocked from the inside and had to crash through. They rammed their way into Miss Gray's room to find it in flames.
District 2 Fire Chief Lester Baker said the fire, apparently started by a cigaret, had been burning for six or seven hours. He said the woman's bed had burned out from under her.
He said her three-room suite was filled with memories - old trinkets, souvenirs, paintings, jewelry, magazines and newspaper.
The blaze was extinguished at 5:35 a.m.
Miss Gray was the only occupant of the hotel, one of Fort Worth's oldest.
Baker estimated damage at $350 to the contents and $150 to the building.
Miss Gray's death marked the sixth fire fatality for both the city and county this year.
Oldtimers with the police department said Miss Gray had operated the downtown hotel for about 40 years. She befrinded many policemen who needed help.
Miss Gray's body was taken to Owens-Brumly, which was trying to locate survivors Friday.
Fort Worth's belle of the gay sporting set more than 50 years ago lost her life today in a fire in a small hotel.
Eunice Gray, 81, her body badly burned was found beside her four-poster bed in her richly furnished appartment in the Waco Hotel, 110 1/2 E. 15th St.
District Fire Chief Lester Baker said the slow burning fire probably started around the bed, possibly from a cigaret.
Today few people know her name. For the past few years she has kept to herself in the hotel she owned. Occasionally she hired a taxi, loaded it with fruits and grocries and called on some of her old women friends in the County Home for the Aged.
Eunice, as she told everyone to call her didn't need for anything. She had saved her money, invested it in real estate and bank stock.
Her old friends, from the 1905-1920 period read like a Who's Who of Texas - cattle barons, oil men, and yes even preachers.
The reason she never married, she vowed, was because the only man she ever loved was a priest. They were childhood sweethearts in Missouri. She was 12, he 15, the best dancers in the county. After be became a priest, he offered to give up the cloth and marry her but she said no. The church was his life.
One of Fort Worth's best known preachers lamblased her from the pulpit. He kept hammering away at "Hells Half-Acre." Of course that is where Eunice lived.
"He called me up and told me he was going to run me out of town," she once told a press reporter. "I told him it wasn't necessary. I was nailing up my place and going on a trip to South America."
She did and didn't return for five years.
A few months before his death, this same preacher tottered up the stairs to her walk-up hotel.
"I've given up trying to save your soul." he told her. "But I guess you are a lot better than many prople who pretend to be good."
She went to his funeral
Shortly afterwards, the priest became ill in another state. His family wired Eunice. She rushed to his bedside and was there when he died. She wore black to his funeral.
Her hotel was in a shabby part of the business district just off Lower Main St. But her apartment was furnished like something out of Europe. An old-fashioned bed with over hanging canopy, French tapestry, a woven picture, dominated one wall. Many vases, pictures, a mahogany china closet containing dainty pieces saved over a lifetime.
Religious quotations hung from one wall. A picture of Christ (a gift from the priest) was sandwiched between two nudes.
Did Eunice ger religion in her twilight years?
"I was never really bad" she once said. "After all there was only one commandment that I broke regulary."
At 5:09 a.m. today a passerby saw smoke spilling from the hotel windows. He called the Fire Department. The fire was tapped out at 5:35 a.m.
Damage was light, about $350 to the contents and $150 to the hotel.
Eunice, who knew almost everybody in downtown Fort Worth before, World War I, died alone.
No other occupants were in the 20 room hotel.
NOTE; Ermine went by several names during her lifetime. In her brothers obituary in 1951 she is listed as Ermine Crump. In Fort Worth she was known as Eunice Gray. Some historians believe that she was Etta Place the girlfriend of the Sundance Kid.
THE FORT WORTH PRESS - Friday, January 26, 1962
WOMAN DIES IN HOTEL FIRE
One of Fort Worth's most colorful hotel owners was burned to death early Friday in her expensively furnished suite at the Waco Hotel, 110 1/2 E. 15th.
Miss Eunice Gray, about 81 was found burned beyond recognition in her locked, airtight second floor room.
The fire was reported at 5:09 a.m. when a passerby spotted smoke pouring from the front windows of the walk-up hotel.
When firemen arrived they found the front door of the hotel padlocked from the inside and had to crash through. They rammed their way into Miss Gray's room to find it in flames.
District 2 Fire Chief Lester Baker said the fire, apparently started by a cigaret, had been burning for six or seven hours. He said the woman's bed had burned out from under her.
He said her three-room suite was filled with memories - old trinkets, souvenirs, paintings, jewelry, magazines and newspaper.
The blaze was extinguished at 5:35 a.m.
Miss Gray was the only occupant of the hotel, one of Fort Worth's oldest.
Baker estimated damage at $350 to the contents and $150 to the building.
Miss Gray's death marked the sixth fire fatality for both the city and county this year.
Oldtimers with the police department said Miss Gray had operated the downtown hotel for about 40 years. She befrinded many policemen who needed help.
Miss Gray's body was taken to Owens-Brumly, which was trying to locate survivors Friday.
Fort Worth's belle of the gay sporting set more than 50 years ago lost her life today in a fire in a small hotel.
Eunice Gray, 81, her body badly burned was found beside her four-poster bed in her richly furnished appartment in the Waco Hotel, 110 1/2 E. 15th St.
District Fire Chief Lester Baker said the slow burning fire probably started around the bed, possibly from a cigaret.
Today few people know her name. For the past few years she has kept to herself in the hotel she owned. Occasionally she hired a taxi, loaded it with fruits and grocries and called on some of her old women friends in the County Home for the Aged.
Eunice, as she told everyone to call her didn't need for anything. She had saved her money, invested it in real estate and bank stock.
Her old friends, from the 1905-1920 period read like a Who's Who of Texas - cattle barons, oil men, and yes even preachers.
The reason she never married, she vowed, was because the only man she ever loved was a priest. They were childhood sweethearts in Missouri. She was 12, he 15, the best dancers in the county. After be became a priest, he offered to give up the cloth and marry her but she said no. The church was his life.
One of Fort Worth's best known preachers lamblased her from the pulpit. He kept hammering away at "Hells Half-Acre." Of course that is where Eunice lived.
"He called me up and told me he was going to run me out of town," she once told a press reporter. "I told him it wasn't necessary. I was nailing up my place and going on a trip to South America."
She did and didn't return for five years.
A few months before his death, this same preacher tottered up the stairs to her walk-up hotel.
"I've given up trying to save your soul." he told her. "But I guess you are a lot better than many prople who pretend to be good."
She went to his funeral
Shortly afterwards, the priest became ill in another state. His family wired Eunice. She rushed to his bedside and was there when he died. She wore black to his funeral.
Her hotel was in a shabby part of the business district just off Lower Main St. But her apartment was furnished like something out of Europe. An old-fashioned bed with over hanging canopy, French tapestry, a woven picture, dominated one wall. Many vases, pictures, a mahogany china closet containing dainty pieces saved over a lifetime.
Religious quotations hung from one wall. A picture of Christ (a gift from the priest) was sandwiched between two nudes.
Did Eunice ger religion in her twilight years?
"I was never really bad" she once said. "After all there was only one commandment that I broke regulary."
At 5:09 a.m. today a passerby saw smoke spilling from the hotel windows. He called the Fire Department. The fire was tapped out at 5:35 a.m.
Damage was light, about $350 to the contents and $150 to the hotel.
Eunice, who knew almost everybody in downtown Fort Worth before, World War I, died alone.
No other occupants were in the 20 room hotel.
NOTE; Ermine went by several names during her lifetime. In her brothers obituary in 1951 she is listed as Ermine Crump. In Fort Worth she was known as Eunice Gray. Some historians believe that she was Etta Place the girlfriend of the Sundance Kid.
WOMAN DIES IN HOTEL FIRE
One of Fort Worth's most colorful hotel owners was burned to death early Friday in her expensively furnished suite at the Waco Hotel, 110 1/2 E. 15th.
Miss Eunice Gray, about 81 was found burned beyond recognition in her locked, airtight second floor room.
The fire was reported at 5:09 a.m. when a passerby spotted smoke pouring from the front windows of the walk-up hotel.
When firemen arrived they found the front door of the hotel padlocked from the inside and had to crash through. They rammed their way into Miss Gray's room to find it in flames.
District 2 Fire Chief Lester Baker said the fire, apparently started by a cigaret, had been burning for six or seven hours. He said the woman's bed had burned out from under her.
He said her three-room suite was filled with memories - old trinkets, souvenirs, paintings, jewelry, magazines and newspaper.
The blaze was extinguished at 5:35 a.m.
Miss Gray was the only occupant of the hotel, one of Fort Worth's oldest.
Baker estimated damage at $350 to the contents and $150 to the building.
Miss Gray's death marked the sixth fire fatality for both the city and county this year.
Oldtimers with the police department said Miss Gray had operated the downtown hotel for about 40 years. She befrinded many policemen who needed help.
Miss Gray's body was taken to Owens-Brumly, which was trying to locate survivors Friday.
Fort Worth's belle of the gay sporting set more than 50 years ago lost her life today in a fire in a small hotel.
Eunice Gray, 81, her body badly burned was found beside her four-poster bed in her richly furnished appartment in the Waco Hotel, 110 1/2 E. 15th St.
District Fire Chief Lester Baker said the slow burning fire probably started around the bed, possibly from a cigaret.
Today few people know her name. For the past few years she has kept to herself in the hotel she owned. Occasionally she hired a taxi, loaded it with fruits and grocries and called on some of her old women friends in the County Home for the Aged.
Eunice, as she told everyone to call her didn't need for anything. She had saved her money, invested it in real estate and bank stock.
Her old friends, from the 1905-1920 period read like a Who's Who of Texas - cattle barons, oil men, and yes even preachers.
The reason she never married, she vowed, was because the only man she ever loved was a priest. They were childhood sweethearts in Missouri. She was 12, he 15, the best dancers in the county. After be became a priest, he offered to give up the cloth and marry her but she said no. The church was his life.
One of Fort Worth's best known preachers lamblased her from the pulpit. He kept hammering away at "Hells Half-Acre." Of course that is where Eunice lived.
"He called me up and told me he was going to run me out of town," she once told a press reporter. "I told him it wasn't necessary. I was nailing up my place and going on a trip to South America."
She did and didn't return for five years.
A few months before his death, this same preacher tottered up the stairs to her walk-up hotel.
"I've given up trying to save your soul." he told her. "But I guess you are a lot better than many prople who pretend to be good."
She went to his funeral
Shortly afterwards, the priest became ill in another state. His family wired Eunice. She rushed to his bedside and was there when he died. She wore black to his funeral.
Her hotel was in a shabby part of the business district just off Lower Main St. But her apartment was furnished like something out of Europe. An old-fashioned bed with over hanging canopy, French tapestry, a woven picture, dominated one wall. Many vases, pictures, a mahogany china closet containing dainty pieces saved over a lifetime.
Religious quotations hung from one wall. A picture of Christ (a gift from the priest) was sandwiched between two nudes.
Did Eunice ger religion in her twilight years?
"I was never really bad" she once said. "After all there was only one commandment that I broke regulary."
At 5:09 a.m. today a passerby saw smoke spilling from the hotel windows. He called the Fire Department. The fire was tapped out at 5:35 a.m.
Damage was light, about $350 to the contents and $150 to the hotel.
Eunice, who knew almost everybody in downtown Fort Worth before, World War I, died alone.
No other occupants were in the 20 room hotel.
NOTE; Ermine went by several names during her lifetime. In her brothers obituary in 1951 she is listed as Ermine Crump. In Fort Worth she was known as Eunice Gray. Some historians believe that she was Etta Place the girlfriend of the Sundance Kid.
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