California Family Mourns 95-Year-Old Grandmother Killed In Wildfires

A family is mourning the tragic loss of their matriarch following deadly wildfires in southern California. According to local news outlet ABC7, the remains of 95-year-old Dalyce “Momma Dee” Curry were found on Sunday (Jan 12.) on her burned-down property in Altadena, CA. as firefighters continue to battle the Eaton blaze. Initially, relatives were concerned after Curry was unaccounted for.

Curry’s grandaughter Dalyce Kelley had dropped her off at home after a hospital stay shortly before the devastating fires began. After being alerted via text that the power had gone out at her grandmother’s home, Kelley rushed to the scene only to learn the house had burned down.

“It was total devastation,” Kelley detailed to the outlet. She had been instructed to check the Pasadena Civic Center where displaced residents were being evacuated and eventually was escorted home by the National Guard. “Everything was gone except her blue Cadillac.”

Curry worked professionally in “Old Black Hollywood” during the 1950s. Acting for decades according to ABC7, she served as an extra in various films including The 10 Commandments, Blues Brothers, and Lady Sings the Blues.

Altadena, an unincorporated area in the San Gabriel Valley and the Verdugos regions of California, is a historical Black neighborhood with a rich history, as it existed as one of few areas that offered housing and loans to Black Americans during the Civil Rights Movement, per Axios. The neighborhood of 42,000 residents is one of the greatest impacted by this month’s natural disaster. The Eaton fire, which claimed the life of Curry, also killed at least four others and destroyed more than 1,000 structures.

According to NBC4, the Eaton fire officially sparked last Tuesday (Jan. 7), during the Santa Ana windstorm, with winds reaching 80 mph. As of Monday morning, the flames were 33 % contained at 14,100 acres.

VIBE sends our condolences to the family, friends, and community of Dalyce “Momma Dee” Curry.