The Topeka Daily Capital Tuesday October 9, 1951 Topekan, 86, Perishes as Home Burns. Daniel W. Godfrey Suffocates When He Can't Unlock Door. Daniel W. GODFREY, 86, was suffocated by smoke and heat when trying to escape from a fire that swept his home, 1207 West Twenty-Sixth, Monday night. The fire started in the front room of the home, presumably from a kerosene cook stove. It gained considerable headway, before an alarm was turned in. The entire front room was in flames when firemen arrived on the scene. Couldn't Unlock Door. Godfrey's body was found in the back room. He apparently was overcome before he could unlock the back door and escape. He was dead when firemen found him. Firemen confined the blaze to the front room and extinguished it before it could reach the body. Neighbors said they heard a series of muffled explosions about 8:40 p.m. and then saw flames spreading thru the front room. The front door was open they said, but the flames were all across the room, cutting off Godfrey's escape path. He Lived Alone. Godfrey lived alone in the small home. He was born in Tennessee but spent most of his life in Kansas. He was employed as a coach carpenter at the Santa Fe shops for more than 10 years. He served many years as an evangelist. When he was a young man, he and his father traveled extensively in evangelistic work. He still kept his truck in the garage at the rear of his home and was planning to take it with him on another evangelistic trip, according to a member of the family. Slept in Truck. The neighbors said Godfrey slept in one of the trucks at night but often say up to read in the front room. Surviving are three brothers, J.Will Godfrey, 2055 Van Buren; Sam Godfrey, Kansas City, Kan.; and C.A. Godfrey, Walnut Creek, Calif. He was an uncle to Mrs. Lois Brown, 2601 Central Park.