Fire victim, 79, worked in family business for 3 decades | Lexington Herald Leader

A 79-year-old woman who died after a house fire helped lead a longtime window and glass business in Lexington.

Dixie O’Nan died from smoke inhalation about 2 a.m. at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, the coroner said. The cause of the fire on Bellmeade Road in a neighborhood between Nicholasville and Tates Creek roadsis being investigated. O’Nan was found inside the house, according to the coroner’s office.

O’Nan “made the world a better place” and “was a good neighbor” said her son, Tony O’Nan, adding his mother had many good qualities.

“The biggest quality that stuck out was her sense of right and wrong,” he said. He described her as a “firecracker.”

O’Nan, a Cynthiana native, moved to Lexington in the mid-1950s. She worked at the family business, O'Nan Glass & Window Company, for about 35 years. She primarily did bookkeeping for the company before retiring in 2013.

When Tony O’Nan began working at the company in the 1980s, the company had about five employees. When Dixie O’Nan retired, the company had about 35 employees. It’s on West Third Street near Newtown Pike.

Tony O’Nan said he has received “three or four hundred” phone calls of people offering their condolences.

“If you met her, you would remember,” he said, noting that she was extremely devoted to her family and others.

Kerr Brothers Funeral Home is in charge of O’Nan’s arrangements. Visitation will be 4 to 7 p.m. at Kerr Brothers at 463 East Main Street.