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81-Year-Old Ex-Postal Worker Dies in Aparment Building Fire, NYPD Says

By  Trevor Kapp and Aidan Gardiner | February 7, 2017 9:19am | Updated on February 7, 2017 10:46am

 Patricia Parrish died of smoke inhalation after the fire at 2051 St. Raymond Ave. police said.
Patricia Parrish died of smoke inhalation after the fire at 2051 St. Raymond Ave. police said.
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DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp

PARKCHESTER — An elderly former postal worker died when smoke from a fire filled her Bronx apartment Tuesday morning, NYPD officials said.

Patricia Parrish, 81, suffered smoke inhalation from flames that broke out on the seventh floor of 2051 St. Raymond Ave., near Bangla Bazaar, about 12:30 a.m., according to officials.

Parrish, who lived on the same floor, was pronounced dead at Jacobi hospital, police said.

She had worked as a mail carrier out of Grand Central Station for 50 years, starting when women were relatively rare in the industry, a friend said.

"The guys didn't want none of us there. They treated us bad. It was a job," said Theresa Hunter, 73, who began working at the same post office in the 1960s.

But Parrish persevered and worked there for decades.

She was known for being deeply religious and loved to travel, making her way last fall to Philadelphia just to see a gospel show, the friend said.

"She was very religious. She was always wearing Jesus T-shirts. She went to a lot of churches. She did a lot of praying," Hunter recalled.

"She was kind, but kept to herself. She was just happy. She never let nothing bother her. She always went on trips. She used to be very active with the Girl Scouts," her friend added.

Parrish distinguished herself with her determination in life, Hunter added.

"She said, 'If anything ever happens to me, I want them to play "My Way,"' because that's how she did it. She did it her way," Hunter said.

Fire marshals are still determining the cause of the blaze.

The source of the fire was not immediately clear.