Diamond Executive, A Loving Family Man

By Jo Craven McGinty | STAFF WRITER

September 13, 2001

Robert Speisman of Irvington, was among the 64 people who died aboard American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon Tuesday after being hijacked by terrorists. (AP Photo)

Robert Speisman of Irvington, whom friends described as a "wonderful father and very warm neighbor," was among the 64 people who died aboard American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon Tuesday at about 9:40 a.m. after being hijacked by terrorists.

"I'm thinking of how his daughters were out selling lemonade on the aqueduct that is between our houses," recalled neighbor Marguerite Peyser. "He was out there telling everybody how great his daughters' cookies were."

Speisman, 47, was among the 58 passengers, four flight attendants and two pilots who died in the crash.

He and his wife, Rena, had three daughters: Hayley, 11; Brittany, 16, and Tara, 18, a freshman at Georgetown University in Washington. He was senior vice president of sales for the diamond company Lazare Kaplan International, where his father-in-law, Maurice Tempelsman, the companion of the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, was chairman of the board and his brother-in-law, Leon Tempelsman, was vice chairman and president.

"I guess one of my memories of him was how much he loved his family and his girls," said David Klassen, a friend. "He just had a daughter who went to Georgetown, and when I asked him about dropping her off, his whole body lit up with pride."

Speisman may have stopped in Washington on his way to Los Angeles to visit his oldest daughter.

In his community, Speisman coached youth soccer and was a regular on the basketball court in a weekend league that he helped found.

"When you play basketball with someone for a decade at 6:30 in the morning on Sunday, you get to see someone's true character," Klassen said. "He was one of the most gentle, giving, caring people I've ever met."

In a prepared statement, the family said, "Bob was a wonderful husband and devoted father and son. His optimism and enthusiasm was both contagious and inspiring. Bob touched the lives of all those he met. He had an immense passion for basketball and will always be remembered as the incredible Coach Bob."

Speisman is not the first member of the Sunday morning basketball group to die tragically, Klassen said. Teammate Jack O'Hara was killed with his wife, Janet, and 13-year-old daughter, Caitlin, when TWA Flight 800 exploded over Long Island in 1996.