Isle of Wight-Nansemond County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Gay, Benjamin P. Sr., 1972 

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Police Save Another 

1 Dead In Fire Here 

  Suffolk Fire Chief J. Samuel Carter credits alert Suffolk police with saving 
the life of one of two men asleep in a vacant Morgan St. dwelling.  Another 
was not so fortunate. 

  According to Chief Carter, Suffolk Fire units responded at 10:46 p.m. last 
night to an alarm from the Suffolk Police to 133 Morgan St.* 

  Upon their arrival they found Ben Peter Gay, 41, dead in the bathroom, lying 
on a flaming mattress. 

  Chief Carter said that before his arrival, Sergeant Daniels, together with 
Officers Williams and Graham, had found Forrest E. (Whitey) Brinkley asleep on 
the second floor of the frame dwelling. 

  "If they hadn't come upstairs and found Brinkley asleep," Carter said, "I 
could well have had two dead men on my hands." 

  The fire began in the bathroom.  Its precise cause is still under 
investigation, though Chief Carter stated that fire officials are reasonably 
sure that a cigarette ignited the mattress.  It burned through the bathroom 
floor. 

  Gay's body was taken to Norfolk, for a post-mortem examination by the State 
Medical Examiner's Office. 

  A native Isle of Wight County, Gay was the son of the late Clarence Homer 
Gay and Mrs. Oddle Griggs Gay Dixon. 

  He is survived by three sons, Ben Peter Gay, Clarence Earl Gay and Richard 
Frank Gay, all of Los Angeles, Calif.; one sister, Mrs. Ethel Parker of 
Nansemond County; and three brothers, Silas Gay, Homer Gay and Lilton Gay, all 
of Suffolk. 

  The body was taken to I.O. Hill & Co. Funeral Home. 

  A graveside service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Antioch 
Congregational Christian Church cemetery by Captain Ivan L. Miller of the 
Salvation Army. 

  The family will be at the home of Lilton Gay, 129 Madison Ave.* 

[photo, captioned:] 
Vacant House on Morgan Street Where One Died In Fire 

[photo, captioned:] 
Fire Confined to Bathroom In Vacant House 


****************************************************************************** 

BEN PETER GAY SR. 

  A funeral service for Ben Peter Gay Sr., who died Monday, was conducted at 
11 a.m. Wednesday at the graveside in Antioch Christian Church Cemetery by 
Captain Nan Miller. 

  Pallbearers were Fenney Wyatt, Herbert Gay, C.L. Gay, Julian Roberts and 
John L. Branch. 


"Ben" Benjamin Peter GAY, Sr., of Suffolk, tugboat tender, 
b. 11 Apr 1932, Isle of Wight Co., d. 3 Jan 1972, Suffolk, 
interred in Antioch Christian Church Cemetery*, near Windsor, 5 Jan 1972, 
"Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 50, No. 3, Tues., Jan. 4, 1972, p. 1; 
"Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 50, No. 4, Wed., Jan. 5, 1972, p. 2 

*Additional information: 

Antioch list, an extension of the Southampton County Historical Society 
   {SCHS} Cemetery Project: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/cemeteries/antioch.txt 

Unmarked?  Not on: 
   Isle of Wight County Historical Society {IWCHS} 
   Grave Site Survey Task Force {GSSTF} report #20: 
   http://www.iwchs.com/Cemetery-Reports.html 

No Find a Grave Memorial 

His parents are also buried there, apparently unmarked. 

D.Cert. 72-002054 gives res. & d. 129 Madison Ave.; widowed, spouse unknown; 
   informant: [brother] "Lilton" Littleton GAY. 

His widowed mother 2m. widower John Cornelius DIXON.  Her obits 
   ("Suffolk News-Herald," Dec. 12, 14 & 15, 1949) are posted at: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/obits/d250o1ob.txt 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/obits/g000b1ob.txt