The Lost

Sandra Peddie; Jo Craven McGinty; Sid Cassesse

September 19, 2001

An Insurance Broker With an 'Open' House

Maureen Olson had always wanted to work in New York City. She loved being "close to the heartbeat," as her sister-in-law put it, and was thrilled when she landed a job at Marsh USA, an insurance brokerage in Tower One of the World Trade Center.

A vice president and business analyst for the company, Maureen was always in her office on the 96th floor by 8:45 a.m., her husband, John Eric Olson, said. Her friends and family have not heard from her since the attack.

But they take solace in the fact that Maureen, known as Rene, had done what she had wanted in life, said Catherine Lyons, her sister-in-law, of Lynbrook. The couple, who live in Rockville Centre, had raised two children, Christopher, 19, and Maeve, 17. She also was active in causes and clubs. An ardent Francophile, she spoke passable French and had visited Paris many times.

"Once she set her mind on something, that was it," her husband said.

Maureen Olson, 50, kept up with her friends, even some from grammar school. And her home was always open to friends and family. "It would be a Sunday afternoon, and you didn't have anything to do, and you'd say, 'Let's go to Rene's house,'" Lyons said.

She loved her family, her friends, traveling and reading. And she loved New York. She often teased her husband that once the children were finished with college, they would be moving into the city, her sister, Patricia Scanlon of Lynbrook, said.

Olson is survived by three other sisters - Susan Middaugh of Baltimore, Ginger deNeufville of Cambridge, Mass., and J.R. Crowley of Rockville Centre - and a brother, William Lyons of Lynbrook.

-Sandra Peddie

Ladder Co. 5 Looks For Five of Its Own

Five members of Ladder Co. 5 were killed when terrorists obliterated Tower One of the World Trade Center.

Lt. Michael Warchola and firefighters Andrew Brunn, Louis Arena, Thomas Hannafin and John Santore are confirmed dead.

Santore was known for playing Santa every year at the Christmas party. Their company trudged up a stairwell of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, and apparently into the fireball.

On the night of the attacks, surviving members of the company dug with their hands through metal, plaster and mounds of rubble, looking for their men near their smashed ladder truck. They used hooks and shovels to clear debris. But nothing worked like their hands, and they dug until they were raw.

"Everyone was hoping to find someone alive and pull him out," said Stephen Sullivan, a retired member of No. 5 on the scene. "You hope. But you're afraid, too, of what you'll find."

The men of No. 5 and No. 24 were among the first to respond to Sept. 11's suicidal plane attack. They pulled their trucks, both brand-new, out on West Street, right up to the North Tower, and headed up the "A" stairwell.

"We made it up 37 floors carrying a lot of heavy equipment," said Marcel Claes of Engine No. 24, "and we got an urgent message to come right back down. I think the Ladder 5 guys may have proceeded up farther."

- Jo Craven McGinty

Wife, 4 Daughters, Son Wait For Word Together

"Please tell me Daddy's home," Donna Maneri, 34, said to her mother on Sept. 11 after she heard about the terrorist attacks.