Grayce Clementine Nottage-Nicholas, 93, former teacher and police officer

THE TERRORIST attacks in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, may have claimed another victim.

Grayce Nottage-Nicholas died April 10 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which her family blamed on her exposure to the smoke and gases emitted when the terrorist-controlled planes struck the World Trade Center.

Polls were open for New York's primary elections and Grayce was across the street from the North Tower building to vote when the first plane hit. She survived being trampled by the mad rush from the building, but had to be hospitalized later due to breathing complications.

Despite chronic lung problems, Grayce had enough interests and occupations in her years in Philadelphia to satisfy most people, ranging from teacher, to police officer, to juvenile probation officer, sales tax investigator, real estate broker, singer and model.

She also served as program director for her sister, C. DeLores Tucker, secretary of the commonwealth in the Milton Shapp administration in the 1970s, who died in 2005.

Grayce Clementine Nottage-Nicholas was 93. She had been living in New York City for 19 years, but lived most of her life in Mount Airy.

Here's what kind of woman Grayce was: While living in New York and riding the buses, she always carried extra quarters to help people who needed change to pay their fare.

She also used her knowledge of real estate to help people find affordable housing, and was active in helping young people get their education.

"In these and other ways, she considered serving people, young and old, her passion and ministry in life," her family said.

In her youth, Grayce was a winner of the Miss Sepia beauty pageant in Atlantic City. One of the prizes was a recording contract in New York City.

Although a talented singer, Grayce turned down the offer, and she and her late sister, Ruth, founded the Miss Sepia beauty pageant in Philadelphia.

As a police officer in the early 1950s, Grayce became the first black female detective. She and fellow officer Margaret Powers made headlines in June 1954 when they rescued two children, a boy, 4, and a 3-month-old from a Philadelphia apartment where they had been left alone.

Grayce said the children were "badly in need of attention." The officers took the children to the 20th and Buttonwood streets police station, where they "administered generous portions of tender loving care," according to the news report.

Grayce was the seventh of the 14 children born to the Rev. Whitfield Nottage and Captilda Nottage, immigrant missionaries from the Eleuthera Islands in the Bahamas. They owned a 200-acre farm in Woxall, in Upper Salford Township, Montgomery County, where they raised tomatoes that were sold to the Campbell Soup Co.

Grayce's father, who was 103 when he died in 1986, founded the Ebenezer Community Tabernacle, at 19th Street and Susquehanna Avenue. Her mother ran a grocery store, employment agency and a real-estate company.

Grayce sang at the church and in a family orchestra. At Simon Gratz High School, she sang and played clarinet in the glee club.

She went on to Cheyney University, where she sang with the school band and the choir. She was assistant director of the Cheyney band.

She graduated in 1944 with a degree in elementary and secondary education, and became an elementary-school teacher with the Philadelphia School District.

In subsequent years, Grayce worked as a juvenile-probation officer for the Philadelphia courts, and an investigator for the state, tracking down cigarette runners who failed to pay the sales tax.

Grayce was so fashion conscious, her family called her "Princess Grayce."

"She was known for her iconic and exuberant sense of style," her family said.

At a time when most cars were black, Grayce customized her Buick Roadmaster, purchased from Wilkie Buick, with a bright pink roof.

Grayce came from an accomplished family. In addition to DeLores Tucker, another sister, Helen Cook, was said by her family to be the first black woman to attend Temple University, and another sister, Dr. Lorraine Nottage-Lane, was the first black woman to graduate from the Pennsylvania School of Optometry.

Grayce was the last surviving sibling.

She was married to Ronald Nicholas. She is survived by a daughter, Dr. Ronalda Nicholas-Frazier, and a grandson, Uriel Frazier.

Services: 11 a.m. Monday at Bringhurst Funeral Home at West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala-Cynwyd. Friends may call at 10 a.m.