The Lost

By Brain Donovan | STAFF WRITER

September 13, 2001

Flowers adorn the fire truck on which Father Mychal Judge worked; he was killed Tuesday. (Newsday Photo / J. Conrad Williams Jr.)

SOME OF THE DEAD and the missing had been in the summer of their lives - accomplished people in the prime of distinguished careers. There was a movie actress, a chief financial officer, a TV producer.

Some were public servants who kept on risking their lives even after colleagues died taking the same chances. One was the city fire department chief, who didn't like to mention his rank. He wanted to be known as a firefighter.

Some were young people whose futures seemed to stretch out to a far horizon. Some were raising young children, coaching teams, bandaging scraped knees, explaining away bad dreams. Several families were traveling with the children.

Some were about to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries with their families. One young couple thought they were on their way to a vacation in Hawaii.

Some spent their workdays passing on their knowledge to others. There were university professors, a gymnastics coach.

Some had made a lot of money. One was the co-founder of a technology company, who'd become a paper billionaire when the stock soared.

But when friends and loved ones spoke of them yesterday, trying to describe the loss of their passing, they spoke more of personal qualities than of titles or accomplishments.

They talked about the enjoyment love can bring to mundane events. One was a wife - now a widow - who said the greatest pleasure she and her husband enjoyed was simply "being together," doing chores, running errands, things too outwardly ordinary to be written down in an appointment book.

Several spent their last moments talking with loved ones on cell phones. One widow told how her husband called her from the World Trade Center, speaking with horror of people falling and jumping from the other tower - until the second plane struck and the phone went dead.

The friends and relatives talked about people who had "a special spark," people who were thoughtful, people who smiled.

Ted English, president and CEO of The TJX Companies Inc., which had seven employees on the first plane to strike the World Trade Center, issued a statement that seemed to speak for everyone.

"Their warmth, their humor, their passion and their strength will be sorely missed," he wrote. "Our family is forever changed."