A 90-year-old woman who died in a Bronx fire was a sharecropper’s daughter from Georgia, who moved to New York City when she was 17, dedicated her life to teaching and once ran for a state Assembly seat, friends and relatives said Wednesday.
Alice Johnson even outlived her prognosis after being diagnosed with lung cancer more than a dozen years ago, only to perish in a fast-moving fire that broke out Tuesday night in a residential building where she lived in East Tremont, officials said.
The deadly blaze ended the life of a determined woman whose focused life defied the odds and inspired several generations of admirers.
“Being raised by my mother was absolutely magical,” said the victim’s grieving son, Richard Johnson. “My mother was my first teacher. I can credit any success I have

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