Eva McGown
Eva McGown ne Montgomery , the hostess of Fairbanks, was best known for her three decades helping newcomers, military wives, construction workers, students, and visitors to find shelter in Fairbanks, Alaska during periods of time particularly World War II when the demand for housing far oustripped supply. Named Official Hostess of Fairbanks and Honorary Hostess of Alaska, McGown was featured in an article in Readers Digest and a broadcast of the popular biographical television program This is Your Life, and was the basis for the character Bridie Ballantyne in the 1958 novel Ice Palace and its 1960 film adaptation. She died in 1972 in a fire in the Nordale Hotel, where she had lived the lastyears of her life.
Eva Montgomery was born on June 23, 1883 in Antrim, County Antrim, Ireland. Little is known about her early life other than that she was director of a choir in Belfast in the early 1900s.
Source: Wikipedia