The 97-year-old woman fighting to stay in her California home died Thursday night after her landlord's cruel eviction attempt was "too much for her," according to her roommate of 32 years.
Marie Hatch passed away in her Burlingame, Calif., home of 66 years after becoming weak and contracting a virus, said her roommate Georgie Rothrock, who was with her when she passed.
"I think the recent upset about the rental really sort of did her in, and then she contracted a virus, was really short of breath. She had a pounding heart. It was just too much for her," Rothrock, 85, told the Daily News.
Hatch received the shocking eviction notice on Feb. 11 from her landlord, David Kantz, which ignored claims that she was given a verbal agreement to lifetime tenancy from her previous three landlords.
In a statement, lawyers who agreed to represent Hatch pro bono, also blamed the death on the “callous eviction,” according to Mercury News.
“There is no doubt that the callous eviction of Marie Hatch has caused her death,” said attorneys Nanci Nishimura and Nancy Fineman of the law firm Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP.
Kantz, Hatch's landlord, has said he was forced to boot her from the $1.5 million home per a trust left to him by his wife, the previous landlord — she was murdered by a boyfriend she was seeing while going through a divorce with Kantz.
Hatch and Rothrock were paying a combined rent of $900, well under current market rate.
The elderly woman’s eviction drew sympathy from across the country, along with housing offers from strangers.
KPIXLandlord David Kantz served eviction notices to 97-year-old Marie Hatch and her 85-year-old roommate Georgia Rothrock after the two were found living in a $1.5 million dollar home for decades paying a combined total of $900.
One of those good Samaritans was 57-year-old Diane Addiego — who reached out to the Daily News to offer Hatch a room in her Tracy, Calif., home.
“I think it’s a good thing to do,” she told the Daily News, adding that she has “a very nice house, with a gorgeous pool and a gorgeous garden” and plenty of space for Hatch.
Hatch was "well-known" in the community and loved to cook and garden, Rothrock said. She worked at a local bakery until she was forced to retire 20 years ago because of a bad knee.
"She was essentially a homemaker. She enjoyed her home and keeping it nice and her yard. That was essentially her life," Rothrock said.
Hatch is survived by her son, Gary, and a grandson.
The law firm representing Hatch will continuing pursuing a lawsuit against Kantz for the eviction.
Rothrock is working with a social worker to relocate because it is not "financially possible" for her to stay in the Burlingame home.
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