Copyright 2001
The Detroit News.
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 Matt Moyer / Associated Press
Photographs of people missing after the World Trade Center attack cover a van in front of Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. Relatives are desperate for information.
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Tributes paid to the lost
Family, friends share memories of loved ones
By Detroit News wire services
They were mothers, fathers, children, entertainment figures, entry-level secretaries, police officers and fire department chaplains. They were at their desks in sprawling office buildings, strapped in their seats on routine commercial airline flights or responding to disaster. Then they were gone.
Charles Burlingame, 51, of Virginia was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 77. He grew up in Orange County, Calif., and he planned to celebrate his 52nd birthday there by attending an Anaheim Angels baseball game Wednesday. When he learned he couldn't get a good seat to the game, he told his wife, Sheri, not to join him aboard the ill-fated flight that crashed into the Pentagon, said his brother, Brad Burlingame. "He was a huge Angels fan." Charles Burlingame had a daughter and a grandchild.
 Jason Dahl of Denver was the captain of United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in rural southwest Pennsylvania. Dahl had a lifelong interest in flying, said his aunt, Maxine Atkinson of Waterloo, Iowa. "Our belief will always be that Jason and the other co-pilots somehow realized the situation and took the plane down, taking those lives to save other lives," she said. "He always said if it came to a situation like that, he would give his life to save others. That's just the way he operated."
 Wilson Flagg of Millwood, Va., was a retired Navy admiral and retired pilot for American Airlines. He was aboard American Flight 77 when the plane crashed into the Pentagon. He was on his way to visiting family and friends in Orange County, Calif., said his brother-in-law, Ray Sellek. "He was still called upon by the military for technical advice," Sellek said, adding that Flagg had an office at the Pentagon. "I can't imagine him being on that plane under those conditions."
Terry Lynch was a consultant for the New York consulting firm Booz-Allen & Hamilton and a former longtime staffer for Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. He was attending a meeting at the Pentagon when American Flight 77 smashed into the building. Lynch served as a Shelby aide for 15 years, starting in 1982 when Shelby was a Democrat in the House. He also worked for former Rep. John Buchanan, R-Ala.
 Robert LeBlanc, 70, of Lee, N.H., was a professor emeritus of geography at the University of New Hampshire. LeBlanc was headed to a geography conference when the United Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center. LeBlanc retired in 1999 after a 37-year career at the university but remained a fixture on campus. He had served as department chairman for nearly 10 years. Marilyn Hoskin, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said LeBlanc's colleagues are deeply saddened by his death. "He lost his life traveling yet again to the further reaches of the globe," she said.
Mari-Rae Sopper, the women's gymnastics coach at the University of California at Santa Barbara, was aboard the flight that crashed into the Pentagon. Gymnastics had been dropped by the university Aug. 10 but was reinstated three days later for one year and Sopper was hired as coach less than two weeks ago. "What is so amazing about Mari-Rae is that she knew the program would only be in existence for one more year, but she accepted the job with so much enthusiasm," UCSB junior Cara Simkins said.
 Sonia Morales Puopolo, 58, of Boston is a former ballet dancer who was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11 on her way to visit her son in Los Angeles. Puopolo split her time between Miami and Boston, where her husband, Dominic, is a financier. The couple were married 38 years. Born in Puerto Rico, Puopolo was involved in cultural and arts organizations, and in Miami she was a key supporter of the Miami City Ballet.
 Robert Speisman, 47, of Irvington, N.Y., was an executive vice-president of Lazare Kaplan, an international jewelry firm. His father-in-law and business associate is Maurice Tempelsman, longtime companion of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Speisman was on American Airlines Flight 77 on a business trip. He had a wife and three daughters. His family remembered his "immense passion for basketball."
Ronald Gamboa, 33, his partner Daniel Brandhorst, 42, and their son David Brandhorst, 3, all of Los Angeles, were taking one of many family trips. "They did a lot of traveling, they were both family-oriented," said Gamboa's sister, Jeannie Merwin. Gamboa managed Gap stores in Los Angeles and Brandhorst was a lawyer.
 Berry Berenson, 53, of Los Angeles was an actress, photographer and the widow of actor Anthony Perkins. Berenson also was the mother of actor Osgood "Oz" Perkins, 27, who appeared this year in the film Legally Blond and musician Elvis Perkins, 25; the sister of actress and model Marisa Berenson; and the granddaughter of Bernard Berenson, noted American art scholar of the Italian Renaissance. She had been vacationing in Cape Cod and was on her way to visit her sons. She had just completed a book on fashion designer Halston.
Daniel John Lee, 34, of Los Angeles was a member of the road crew for the Backstreet Boys' tour. He was on his way home on maternity leave. His wife, Kelly, was scheduled to give birth to their second child Thursday.
Carolyn Beug, 48, of Santa Monica, Calif., and her mother, Mary Alice Wahlstrom, 75, of Kaysville, Utah, were on their way to Los Angeles after settling Beug's twin freshman daughters at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. A former Walt Disney Records executive, Beug had won acclaim for her work on the Pocahontas film soundtrack. Wahlstrom, who had 13 grandchildren, had talked to her son the night before. She said she was eager to get back home, didn't like to fly and never wanted to leave home again, according to the Deseret News in Salt Lake City.
 Daniel Lewin, 31, was the co-founder of Internet communication company Akamai Technologies of Cambridge, Mass. "Danny was a wonderful human being," said George Conrades, chairman and CEO of Akamai. "He will be deeply missed by his many friends at Akamai." Lewin is survived by a wife and two sons.
Tara Creamer, 30, of Worcester, Mass., was an infrequent flier who fretted about leaving her two children, Colin, 4, and Nora, 1. "She was just a kind and loving wife and mother. And she was everything to me and my children," husband John Creamer told the Boston Globe.
Maclovio "Joe" Lopez Jr., 41, of Norwalk, Calif., was a native of Pueblo, Colo., who worked for a company that specializes in laying pipe. He had been working in Boston temporarily. "The world has lost a really good man -- a good husband and father. And I know he died loving me and knowing he was loved," his wife, Rhonda, told the Pueblo Chieftain.
 Edmund Glazer, 41, was chief financial officer of MRV Communications, a Chatsworth, Calif., optical networking company. He leaves a wife and a son.
Richard Guadagno, 38, of Eureka, Calif., was a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manager at Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. He worked for the federal government for 17 years at wildlife reserves in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Oregon. Anne Badgley, director of the agency's Pacific Region, described Guadagno as "one of our finest managers." He is survived by his parents and a sister.
 Tim Ward, 38, of San Diego was an information technology executive for Rubio's Restaurants, a chain of 138 Mexican restaurants headquartered in Carlsbad, Calif. A wine enthusiast and sports lover, Ward loved attending San Diego's Old Globe Theater, a reproduction of the Tudor-era theater that presents Shakespearean plays.
Paul Ambrose, 32, had gotten engaged to Bianca Angelino a week ago. They planned to marry next fall in Spain, a country where he spent a year studying. A doctor who graduated from Marshall University School of Medicine in his hometown of Huntington, W.Va., Ambrose had completed a master's degree in public health at Harvard two years ago. He was more than halfway through a fellowship with the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine and was working with the surgeon general on a number of health issues.
 Garnet "Ace" Bailey, 53, of Lynnfield, Mass., was director of pro scouting for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League. Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, he played in the NHL for 11 seasons, most notably with the Boston Bruins. He also played for the Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers and the Washington Capitals.
Thomas Pecorelli, 31, of Los Angeles, a cameraman with Fox Sports and E! Entertainment Television, was headed home to his pregnant wife on American Flight 11. "Tom made everyone laugh," a family statement said.
 Mark Bavis, 31, West Newton, Mass., scouted collegians and other amateur hockey players for the Kings and was entering his second season with the team. He played collegiate hockey at Boston University, and his twin brother, Michael, is an assistant coach there. Bavis also had been an assistant coach at Harvard. Bavis is survived by his mother and two brothers.
Father Mychael Judge, 68, a New York Fire Department chaplain for the past 10 years, was administering last rites to a victim of the World Trade Center disaster when he was struck by falling debris. Judge had ministered to relatives of people aboard TWA Flight 800, which crashed off Long Island in 1996. "He loved the firemen, he loved people, he was always trying to help people," friend Harry Ryttenberg said.
 Michele Heidenberger, 57, a flight attendant from Chevy Chase, Md., lived with her husband, Tom, a pilot for US Airways. "Michele was a pro," reads a statement issued by family and friends. "She died trying to protect her passengers and crew." She had a son, 11, and a college-age daughter.
James Hayden, 47, was chief financial officer of high-tech firm Netegrity.
 Karen Kincaid, 40, of Washington, D.C., was a partner at the Washington law firm of Wiley Rein & Fielding, which specializes in communications law. The Iowa native was flying to Los Angeles to attend a wireless industry conference. She was training to run in the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 28 with her husband of five years, Peter Batacan, a lawyer at another firm. "She was very self-effacing," says Richard Wiley, head of the firm. "She was really one of the nicest most genuine individuals you would hope to meet."
 Leslie Whittington and Charles Falkenberg, both 45, of University Park, Md., died along with daughters Zoe, 8, and Dana, 3. The family was headed for Australia, where Whittington was going to be a visiting fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra. She was an economist and associate professor of public policy at Georgetown University. She published a series of papers on the "marriage tax" and studied the economic role and status of women. She had taught a course titled "Race, Gender and the Job Market" with 1984 Democratic vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro. Falkenberg was a software engineer for ECOlogic. He helped develop software to evaluate the effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and was working on a project for NASA.
Touri Bolourchi, 69, of Beverly Hills, Calif., was a retired nurse born in Tehran. She moved to the United States with her daughters in 1979 following the Islamic revolution. Her husband, Akbar Bolourchi, joined them two years later by moving his medical practice to Beverly Hills. Touri Bolourchi, who was fluent in six languages, had spent two weeks with her daughter and two grandsons in Boston. Her husband said his wife had not been to Boston for two years because she was afraid of airplanes.
 Steven "Jake" Jacoby, 43, was chief operating officer of Metrocall, a wireless messaging company in Alexandria, Va. He was en route to Los Angeles to participate in a wireless industry conference. "The fact that Metrocall's technical operating network continued to function and provide critical communications during this horrific event was a tribute to Jake," said Vince Kelly, the firm's chief financial officer.
Leonard Taylor of Reston, Va., worked in downtown Arlington, Va., for a computer company. He and had a wife, Karyn, and two young daughers.
 Ann Campana Judge, 49, manager of the National Geographic Society travel office in Washington, was beginning a society-sponsored educational field trip to the Channel Islands. She was at the society 22 years. During that time, educational trips supplemented her job of dispatching the society's photographers, writers and executives to all corners of the world.
Lisa Raines, 42, was senior vice-president of government relations for Genzyme, a biotechnology firm. She leaves a husband. She loved to travel, especially to California, and had just gotten back from a vacation in Santa Barbara. She also loved decorating their house and enjoyed classical music concerts at the Kennedy Center.
 Dora Menchaca, 45, of Santa Monica, Calif., was the first in her San Antonio family to graduate from college and earned a Ph.D. in epidemiology from UCLA. She worked for Amgen, a biotechnology company in Thousand Oaks, Calif. She had flown to North Carolina to watch her college-age daughter play soccer, then to Washington for business meetings. Besides her daughter, she leaves a husband and a 4-year-old son. "Her children were really her life," brother John Menchaca said.
Lauren Grandcolas of San Rafael, Calif., was a sales worker at Good Housekeeping magazine. She was returning from her grandmother's funeral in New Jersey. Her husband, Jack, said his wife made a quick cell phone call before the plane crashed in Pennsylvania. "We have been hijacked," she told him. "They are being kind. I love you."
 Thomas Burnett Jr., 38, of San Ramon, Calif., was senior vice-president and chief operating officer of Thoratec, a medical research and development company. He had a proactive, take-charge reputation, which may have made a difference in the fate of the plane. In cell phone calls to his wife, Dina, he told her he and other passengers were determined to stop the hijackers; eventually the plane crashed into a field near Pittsburgh.
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