She was known for her cook-outs, her famous barbecue ribs and her delicious macaroni and cheese.
On Wednesday, friends and family laid to rest the woman they said had a “heart of gold” ? family matriarch Deneen “Nena” Thomas, who died June 2, one of eight people killed by the fire on Cecil Avenue in East Baltimore.
“It might have looked like a tragedy,” the Rev. William Sewell told mourners. “The good news is, she?s with the Lord.”
Thomas, 43, held various jobs, including her latest as a cashier for Park Heights Liquors. Family members say she would open her home to anyone.
Reginald Scriber, Baltimore?s deputy commissioner of community services, who rushed to the scene the day of the tragedy, spoke at the service at March Funeral Home East.
“This has been a trying time for all us,” he said. “We will see her again. I know you?re hurting right now and you can?t understand the pain.”
The fast-moving fire that ultimately killed Thomas broke out on the first floor of a crowded row house on May 22. The seven other people killed include Thomas? father, 16-year-old son, 13-year-old son and a 29-year-old nephew. A funeral was held for them on the same day she died at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.
Sewell told nearly 300 people at Thomas? funeral that she is in a better place.
“You can still taste the barbecue ribs and the mac and cheese in your mouth,” he said. “She still lives on.”
Baltimore Fire Department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright said, despite rumors of a firebomb, the cause of the blaze is unknown.
“There?s nothing that boldly stood out as malicious intent,” Cartwright said.
The blaze is considered the worst in the city since Angela and Carnell Dawson and five of their children were burned to death in 2002 by a drug dealer in retaliation for calling the police.
