Gregory Houser, a Mr. Fix-It at home

MANY A WOMAN would love to have a housemate like Gregory Troy Houser.

During the dozen years Gregory and his fiancee, Tracey Corbitt, lived together, she said she didn't have to do much around the house. Greg cooked and did the housework and made whatever repairs were necessary.

"I didn't have to do a thing," she told friends. "He did everything."

Gregory was the epitome of the mechanically inclined. He could handle anything mechanical, repair any appliance, fix any roof, install ceiling fans, get your car running, your heater, your air-conditioner, whatever.

And he didn't hesitate to use his talents to help family, friends and neighbors. Something needed fixing, call Greg. He was generous almost to a fault.

Gregory Houser, a well-known sound engineer who worked with some of the bigger names in the entertainment industry and at popular nightspots and churches, died Saturday of a heart attack in his Northeast Philadelphia home. He was 43.

Since his death, many of the entertainers with whom he worked have sent condolences to his family, including Patti LaBelle, gospel singers John P. Key and Richard Smallwood, singer/songwriter Mary J. Blige and others.

The entertainers he worked with also included the late Lou Rawls and band leader Maynard Ferguson, gospel singers Vickie Winans and Jonathan Butler, soul singer Jaguar Wright, the Johnny Thompson Singers, the Wilmington Chester Mass Choir and many more.

He also volunteered his talents at such churches as his own B.M. Oakley Memorial Temple Church of God in Christ, in North Philadelphia, and others. The clubs he worked included Zanzibar Blue and North By Northwest.

Gregory was largely self-taught. He took his natural talent for technology and built a reputation as a sound engineer that had entertainers and their venues calling him.

His work often took him out of the country. He worked with entertainers in England and Europe.

Gregory was born in Philadelphia to Willie Houser Sr. and the former Delois Corley. He attended Germantown High School and the Delaware Valley Trade School.

He started working on sound equipment at the B.M. Oakley church, where he also played the drums and sang in choirs, including the Zionettes.

He worked for a time for Big Mo Productions in Philadelphia.

Gregory's small stature earned him the nickname "Peanut."

"He was mild-mannered, humble and humorous," said his cousin, Norma Jean James, a customer-service representative in the Daily News and Inquirer circulation department.

"He was an all-around good person, compassionate and helpful. His neighbors loved him."

Gregory was devoted to his daughter, Annya, now 4. But he was a terrible disciplinarian.

"The most he would do was tap her on the back of her hand," Norma said. "Then he would feel so guilty, he would go out to McDonald's and bring back burgers and french fries for her."

Besides his daughter and fiancee, he is survived by his mother, Delois; three sisters, Denise and Janice Houser, and Charonda DeShazo; two brothers, Willie Houser Jr. and Bryant Corley, and his 99-year-old grandfather, Julius Snell.

Services: 11 a.m. Saturday at the B.M. Oakley church, 1535 N. 7th St. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Chelten Hills Cemetery. *