Texana Hollis, evicted at 101, dies at 103 in Detroit

DETROIT, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Texana Hollis, who made headlines when she was evicted from her longtime home in Detroit at the age of 101, has died. She was 103.

Hollis's house was eventually purchased by Mitch Albom, a columnist for the Detroit Free Press, for $100, the newspaper said. His charity, S.A.Y. Detroit, renovated it -- volunteers even building a wheelchair ramp -- but Hollis never lived there full-time again.

While she lived with a friend, Pollian Cheeks, she frequently visited her old house, her granddaughter, Deborah Hollis-Coburn said. She died at Cheeks' home on New Year's Eve.

Hollis was born in Alabama and moved to Detroit with her husband Ira. She was a longtime member of St. Philip's Lutheran Church, where she taught Sunday school for 70 years, Hollis-Coburn said.

"I remember whenever I came to visit her, I'd always have to be there before Sunday morning because we'd have to go to church," Hollis-Coburn told the Detroit News. "She would get all of us up at the crack of dawn to eat a breakfast she had made for us. And it was a very full breakfast. I can still smell the sausage and grits coming from the kitchen."

Hollis is survived by one of her three sons, Warren, 11 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandson.