Isle of Wight County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Pittman and Gay, 1933 

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LUCILLE GAY PITTMAN 

FRED ALLEN PITTMAN JR. 

ELSIE GAY 

Three Persons Die When Fire Consumes Home of Isle of Wight Family 

  While their parents were on their way home from a Christmas shopping trip 
Friday night to Suffolk, Mrs. Lucille Gay Pittman and her 8-year-old sister, 
Elsie Gay, and Mrs. Pittman's 2-year-old son, Fred Pittman, Jr., were trapped 
by and perished in a fire of unknown origin which destroyed their home in Zuni 
about 12:30 o'clock. 

  Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Gay, parents of Mrs. Pittman and Elsie Gay and 
grandparents of the 2-year-old boy, arrived at Zuni to find their home a heap 
of blackened ruins hiding the three bodies. 

  Ethel Gay, Mrs. Pittman's sister, narrowly escaped the fate which overtook 
her two sister's [sic] and little nephew.  She awoke in time, and, failing in 
an effort to reach the others in the house, ran from the blazing building just 
in time. 

  Mrs. Pittman, whose husband, Fred Pittman, was working at Ivor, had been 
making her home with her parents for some little time Friday after Mr. and 
Mrs. Gay went to Suffolk to do some Christmas shopping.  Fred Pittman, her 
little son, and Elsie and Ethel Gay were the only ones in the house. 

  As the frame building flared up, neighbors from miles around flocked to the 
blaze, but were powerless in the face of the terrific heat.  Terrified and 
heartbroken, little Ethel Gay told people who had gathered in the yard that 
she "woke up and saw a big fire and ran. 

  News of the tragedy spread rapidly through the little communities around 
Zuni and threw a pall over the pre-Christmas celebrations.  Mr. and Mrs. Gay 
and their children are well known in the section. 

  Funeral services for the victims of the fire were held Sunday afternoon at 
Antioch Christian Church.


Lucille (GAY; Mrs. Fred A. [Sr.]) PITTMAN, 
Isle of Wight Co. native, d. in fire 23 Dec 1933, at home, near Zuni, age 19, 
interred in Antioch Christian Church Cemetery*, near Windsor, 24 Dec 1933, 

Fred Allen PITTMAN, Jr., son of Fred A. & Lucille (GAY) PITTMAN, 
d. in fire 23 Dec 1933, at home, near Zuni, age 19 months, 
interred in Antioch Christian Church Cemetery*, near Windsor, 24 Dec 1933, 

Elsie GAY, daughter of Clarence H. & Odie Blanche (GRIGGS) GAY, 
d. in fire 23 Dec 1933, at home, near Zuni, age circa 8, 
interred in Antioch Christian Church Cemetery*, near Windsor, 24 Dec 1933, 

"The Smithfield (VA) Times," Vol. 13, No. 38, Dec. 28, 1933, p. 1, col. 4-5 

*Additional information: 

Unmarked? None on Isle of Wight County Historical Society {IWCHS} 
   Grave Site Survey Task Force {GSSTF} Antioch list (#20): 
   http://www.iwchs.com/Cemetery-Reports.html 

Lucille & Fred's D.Certs. (#27322 & 27323 give 22 Dec {Friday}); 
   the fire seems to have occurred at 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning. 

Elsie date of death was initially left blank on her D.Cert. (#27324). 
   undertaker [E.] Jerome Raiford then supplied wrong date 16 Dec {Saturday}, 
   at 12:30 a.m. 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
Carolyn Keen (VAHistoricHouses@aol.com) & 
Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), 
and re-formatted by File Manager Matt Harris. 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/isleofwight/obits/p355l1ob.txt