Family of 84-year-old woman who died from hypothermia heartbroken

HOUSTON - "I think she froze to death," said Rachael Cook. "That’s a terrible way to die."

If you knew 84-year-old Mary Gee, you probably called her mama Mary.

"That was my mama everybody knew mama Mary," Cook said.

Gee lost her husband three years ago. Her only son, an Army Vet, died last year from COVID.

"She wasn’t afraid of anything," said Gee’s great granddaughter Nylah Wells. "She was kind. She was a strong woman."

Gee’s northeast side apartment complex had no power for days.

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Gee became one of at least three people in Harris County that the M.E.’s office says died from hypothermia.

"I had just spoken to her," said Nicale Spencer Gee’s granddaughter. "To just talk to somebody and you’re joking on the phone with her, and then suddenly your next phone call is somebody screaming telling you they’re gone is surreal."

"I’m just hoping she was asleep," Cook said. "I just can’t imagine you freezing to death."

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After Gee died, someone stole her TV phone and other items from her apartment.

"God has a plan for those people who came in here knowing she’s deceased and did this," said Gee’s grandson Ronnie Spencer.