Kenneth Toncrey / “Daisy Mae”

Kenneth Toncrey
“Daisy Mae”

December 6, 1940 - January 25, 2017

Kenneth Toncrey was born on December 6, 1940 in Biloxi, MS. Growing up gay in a small town with a flamboyant personality was difficult for him. As a teenager, he got into some trouble and ended up in Mississippi State Penitentiary for a short time. One story floating around the French Quarter is that he acquired the nick name Daisy Mae in prison because his “lover” there was an inmate named Abner (Lil’ Abner and Daisy Mae). Another story is that his best “girl friend” in high school was a beautiful buxom blond who was nicknamed Daisy Mae and as he idolized her, he took on that nickname as well. He was written up in the Biloxi Daily Herald as a young artist doing matchstick art (he may have been exposed to this art form while incarcerated).

He told friends that he was involved with some Mississippi’s politician’s son and was chased out of Biloxi by the local police. According to this account he was told that if he ever came back across the State line he would be arrested.

The city of New Orleans had a large gay community and beaconed to him as it did to many other young gay men from small cities around the South. He was well known in the gay community there. Gay Carnival Krewes began in the mid 1950s and seemed a perfect venue for “Daisy Mae” to express his artistic flair. He was the first queen of the Krewe of Apollo and later establish his own krewe, the Krewe of Desime. He worked as a bouncer, made pies at Hubig Pie Company and for a short time ran an Antique shop on Rampart. He would sometimes dress in “camp” drag. He was usually the center of attention at any gathering and was quite the story teller. His well know stories were “How I Became Queen for a Day” and “How I escaped Biloxi in My Wedding Dress”. By accounts of those who knew him personally he was accurately referenced in a book, Queens of the Quarter by William Tressner:

“Daisy Mae’s real name was a secret. He had come from the Gulf Coast with every piece of clothing he possessed, one step ahead of the police. They had run him out of town for reasons he never disclosed. He was very popular there, however, for his nickname was known to many people….especially with the AP’s at the Air Force base. He had received the nickname while in the State Penitentiary at Parchman where his lover was a tough Mississippi clod called Little Abner (his real name was Abner Tobias). And so the big, over-grown blond (claimed to be natural) was called Daisy Mae.”
“And then he asked me, ‘Daisy Mae, what would you want, honey, if you are elected queen for a day?’ And I said ‘Jack, darling! I need a bigger bed for my tricks. I can't use the one I have now. It’s all saggy and about to fall in’. Daisy was retelling the mad monologue, gesticulating wildly, the center of attention.”

Around 1980 he moved to San Francisco. He lived in a studio apartment in the Tenderloin with his small black cat with white whiskers named FiFi La Rue Gumbo. He had several medical issues. He was featured in a news article there, “The Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund: Diabetic artist to get new teeth/Mississippi native has suffered from a myriad health issues”. Here is a photo from that article:

He eventually was moved to a special facility as he began to suffer from Alzheimers. He died on January 25, 2017. Arrangements were under the direction of Green Street Mortuary in San Francisco, CA. He was cremated and according to the Mortuary no one claimed his ashes. His ashes were sent to the Woodlawn Memorial Park in Colma, CA.