Remembrances and Memorials
The Fund intends to memorialize those with ties to Michigan whose lives were lost on September 11, 2001, and those who risked their lives to aid those affected by the tragedy.
There are a number of lists of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Many are based on the compilation of the Associated Press, which generally uses the resident address at the time of the attacks as the place associated with the victim. Thus, a number of victims who were born in Michigan, grew up in Michigan, went to school in Michigan, or considered their home to be Michigan are identified with other states.
The Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund is aware of many more people with ties to Michigan who were victims, or were affected that day. The Fund considers those who were born, grew up, went to school, or whose family was in Michigan to be “people of Michigan” worthy of remembrance, regardless of their resident address on the date of the attack. We have confirmed, based on multiple other sources, the Michigan roots of the victims listed below. It is our intention to include a remembrance of every confirmed Michigan victim. In 2020, the Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund was able to confirm 23 additional individuals who were born in Michigan, grew up in Michigan, went to school in Michigan, or considered their home to be Michigan from information posted on the websites of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the National 9-11 Pentagon Memorial Fund, Inc., and the University of Michigan. Profile information on victims of 9-11-01 may be found on Legacy.com Remember: September 11, 2001. If you know of a victim who is not recognized here, please contact us.
There are 38 markers and memorial locations known to us in Michigan. Do you know of another that's not on our map? Please let us know.
Memorial Locations Source: tourofhonor.com
Michigan Victims of 9-11
Listed below are 42 victims of the 9-11 attacks who were born in, lived in, or were closely associated with the State of Michigan.
Terence (Ted) E. Adderley, 22; originally from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Ted worked for Fred Alger Management at the World Trade Center. He graduated from the Detroit Country Day school in 1997, and then attended Vanderbilt University. During summer breaks Ted worked at Kelly Services in Troy, Michigan. His grandfather founded the firm, and his father served as chairman, president, and CEO.
David D. Alger, 57; grew up in Grosse Pointe Michigan. Mr. Alger was the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Fred Alger Management, and was among the 35 employees lost in the firm’s 93rd-floor office in the north tower. He graduated from Harvard where he majored in history, and earned an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan. He also earned the University of Michigan Alumni Achievement Award which “recognizes alumni of the Business School whose attainments in their professional fields have brought distinction to themselves, credit to the School and benefit to their fellow citizens.”
Todd M. Beamer, 32; was born in Flint, Michigan and spent much of his youth in Glen Ellyn, IL. He graduated in 1991 from Wheaton College. Todd was an account manager for Oracle Corp., and was a passenger on Flight 93. Mr. Beamer is survived by his wife and three children.
Eric Lee Bennett, 29; originally from Flint, Michigan. Eric was a vice president at Alliance Consulting Group, working from his office on the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower. He attended Kearsley High School in Flint, and Ferris State University, where he was a center on the football team.
Dr. Yeneneh Betru, 35; a graduate of the Medical School at the University of Michigan, was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Dr. Betru worked as the Director of Medical Affairs for IPC-the Hospitalist Company in Burbank, California. He specialized in improving hospital care and was in the process of developing an improved kidney dialysis machine. He was on Flight 77.
Kirsten Lail Christophe, 39; a Michigan State University graduate, and an attorney who received her law degree from DePaul University. Kirsten was a Vice President of Risk Services at Aon Corporation and her office was located on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center. She is survived by her husband and daughter.
Brian Paul Dale, 43; a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, was a senior consultant with Price Waterhouse. Dale oversaw the legal and accounting activities at Blue Capital Management, the investment firm he co-founded. His job often required him to travel for business purposes. He was on American Flight 11.
Frank J. Doyle, 39; grew up in New Boston, Michigan. Frank worked in the south tower at the World Trade Center, and was head of equity trading for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. Mr. Doyle was able to call his wife, Kimmy Chedel, twice during the attacks, and informed her that he needed to stay in the tower to help others. Mr. Doyle is survived by his wife, his son Garrett, and his daughter Zoe. He and his family lived in Englewood, N.J.
Barbara Edwards, 58; grew up in Wyoming, Michigan. Mrs. Edwards was a French and German teacher at Palo Verde High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was born in Germany, and moved to Michigan at age 10. She graduated from Kelloggsville High School in 1961 and from Western Michigan University in 1965. She was traveling on Flight 77 when it was crashed into the Pentagon.
Paul Friedman 45; a University of Michigan graduate, MSE. Paul worked as a senior management consultant, Emergence Consulting. On the day before he boarded Flight 11 from Boston, Friedman spent the day with his newly adopted infant son.
James Gartenberg 34; member of Julien J. Studley, Inc., World Trade Center. He served as president of the University of Michigan Alumni Club of New York for 12 years prior to serving on the National Advisory Committee for the University Library and Task Force. He is survived by his wife, who is also a University of Michigan graduate, and two daughters, his youngest born after his death.
Steven Goldstein, 35; graduated from the University of Michigan, and worked as a computer analyst for Cantor Fitzgerald at the World Trade Center. He had begun his job two weeks before the attacks. Prior to taking the job, he worked in the basement of his family’s home developing his Internet company, which traded weather derivatives online and was bought by Cantor Fitzgerald.
Elaine Myra Greenberg, 56; her sister, Karen Rappleye, lives in Birmingham, Michigan. Elaine was a financial services consultant for Compaq, and was attending a conference on the 106th floor of tower one, World Trade Center, on the morning of September 11, 2001. Elaine lived in New York City.
Bradley (Brad) Hoorn, 22; originally from Richland, Michigan. Brad, who grew up in Gull Lake, Michigan and attended Yale University, was a research associate with Fred Alger Management. He was working on the 93rd floor of Tower 1 at the time of the attacks. He graduated from Gull Lake High School in 1997.
Suzanne Kondratenko, 27; originally from Romeo, Michigan, Senior Consultant, Keane Consulting Group. Confirmed dead, World Trade Center, at/in building. Ms. Kondratenko grew up in Romeo, Michigan and attended Sacred Heart high school. She was attending a meeting with Aon Insurance executives on the 92nd floor of the north tower at the time of the attacks.
Darya Lin, 32; originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Darya was born in Ann Arbor, and lived there until age 3, when she moved to her mother’s native country of Iran. She returned to Ann Arbor with her family at age 11, and earned bachelors and masters degrees in industrial and engineering operations from the University of Michigan. Darya was working as a senior manager for the Keane Consulting Group out of Chicago, and attending a meeting on the 92nd floor of the World Trade Center’s tower two. She was reported to have made it down to the 78th floor after the attacks, and chose to stay there to care for others.
Peter Edward Mardikian, 29, born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Peter was attending a Risk Waters Group conference at Windows on the World. He worked for Imagine Software, Inc. He is survived by his wife, Corinne; they had only been married six weeks.
Margaret Elaine Mattic, 51; originally from Detroit, Michigan. Margaret was a Customer Service Account Representative for General Telecom in the north tower of the World Trade Center. According to the Detroit News account of September 5, 2006, Ms. Mattic went to New York to pursue a career as an actress and playwright. She is survived by her sister Jean Neal of Detroit. Ms. Mattic lived in New York, She graduated from Cass Technical High school in Detroit, and graduated from Wayne State University in 1973.
Kathleen Nicosia, 54; mother Phyllis Hawk is from Portage, Michigan and sister Kimberley Meyer is from Tecumseh, Michigan. Kathy was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11 when it flew into the World Trade Center.
Albert Ogletree, 49; was born in Michigan and lived in New York City. He was working in the cafeteria at Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower of the World Trade Center when the attack occurred. He worked for Forte Food Service.
Todd Ouida, 25; a graduate of the University of Michigan, worked as a trader for Cantor Fitzgerald at the World Trade Center. On his application to U-M, he wrote, “I discovered no matter how big the person is on the outside (for I am only 5’5″ tall) that the size of the heart is always going to be more important.”
Manish Patel, 29, a University of Michigan graduate, worked for Euro Brokers Inc. at the World Trade Center. An economics major born in India.
Robert R. Ploger III, 59, attended Michigan State University. Robert and his new wife, Zandra, were aboard flight 77, heading to Hawaii for a honeymoon when the plane was crashed into the Pentagon. Robert was a computer specialist, and lived in Annandale, Virginia. His parents, Robert Sr. and Marguerite, were originally from Owosso.
Laurence Michael Polatsch, 32; a graduate of the University of Michigan, he was a partner at Cantor Fitzgerald. Trained as an attorney, Polatsch changed careers six years prior so he wouldn’t have to “fight with people the rest of his life,” said his father, Bernard Polatsch. Two friends and Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity brothers, Scott Weingard and Marc Zeplin, were also killed on September 11, 2001. Their names are listed together on Panel N-27 at the North Pool 9-11 Memorial.
Stephen Poulos, 45; a graduate of the University of Michigan for both undergraduate and graduate programs – MMUS, who worked as a manager at AON Corporation. After singing professionally as a baritone for 20 years, Poulos switched careers for financial reasons in 1996 and took up a career in information technology. Right before he died, he had joined an Internet discussion called the Opera Forum, where he was again able to express his love for music.
David Pruim, 52; originally from Muskegon, Michigan. David was a senior vice president for the Aon Corporation, and worked on the 103rd floor of 2 World Trade Center. David is survived by his wife Kate, also originally from Michigan, and their daughter Carrington. They lived in Montclair, NJ. David graduated from Western Michigan Christian High School (Class of 1966) in Muskegon, and Hope College in Holland, Michigan (1970). His late father, James Pruim, was mayor of Muskegon from 1994 to 1996.
Marsha D. Ratchford, 34; born in Detroit, Michigan and lived in Washington, D.C., she worked for the Navy and was at the Pentagon the day of the attack. She is survived by her husband and three children.
Gregory Richards 30, a University of Michigan graduate, who was a vice president of corporate development, e-Speed, an electronic subsidiary of Cantor Fitzgerald, at the World Trade Center. Two of his friends and Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity brothers, Larry Polatsch and Scott Weingard, were also killed on September 11.
Joshua A. Rosenthal, 44; University of Michigan Graduate. Josh was a Senior Vice President with Fiduciary Trust International, working at their offices in the World Trade Center. He was raised in Livonia and graduated from Stevenson High School (class of 1975). He was a 1979 University of Michigan graduate and recognized as a Truman Scholar. He attended Princeton for graduate school. Josh is survived by his sister Helen, his two nieces, his mother Marilyn, and his father Avram. Mr. Rosenthal lived in Manhattan, but stayed closely connected to Michigan.
Christina Sunga Ryook, 25; a University of Michigan graduate, who worked in human resources for Cantor Fitzgerald. She served as an officer in both the Asian American Association and the Korean Students Association at U-M. A cultural program with the latter group for adopted Korean children won recognition as best of its kind by the United Asian Associations Organization.
Brock J. Safronoff, 26; raised in Traverse City, Michigan. Brock was living in New York City and working as a computer programmer at Marsh & McLennan in the World Trade Center. He was an avid athlete and Detroit Lions fan. He is survived by his wife, Tara, whom he met while attending Amherst College.
Lt. Col. Kip Taylor, 38; originally from Marquette, Michigan. Kip was an assistant to three-star general Tim Maude at the Pentagon, and died there when American Airlines flight 77 was crashed into the building. Kip attended Northern Michigan University with scholarships for basketball and ROTC, and graduated in 1985. He lived in Mclain, Virginia with his wife Nancy and son Dean. His wife gave birth to a second son, Luke, on October 25, 2001.
Brian John Terrenzi, 28; was born in Michigan and lived in Hicksville, Long Island, New York. He worked for Cantor Fitzgerald as a global network manager. He and his wife Jane had just recently purchased their first home and Jane was expecting their first child.
Lisa Marie Terry, 42; born and raised in Michigan. Lisa was a vice president with Marsh & McLennan in their Rochester, MI office. She was an experienced and devoted horsewoman, having ridden since childhood.
Eric (Rick) Raymond Thorpe, 35; born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and lived in New York City. He worked for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods where he was a top salesperson. Mr. Thorpe was an active volunteer and gave back to his community. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
Alicia Titus, 28; parents John and Bev are from Dexter, Michigan. Alicia had worked as a flight attendant for just nine months when her life was taken in the crash of United Airlines Flight 175. Alicia earned a degree in International Marketing at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Meta L. Fuller Waller, 60; a University of Michigan graduate. She worked as a special programs manager, Office of the Secretary of the US Army, Pentagon. When Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, Waller was working at her desk. She held a life-long interest in civil rights and attended the United Nations Conference on Racism in South Africa shortly before her death.
Scott Jeffrey Weingard, 29; a University of Michigan graduate. Scott worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, at the World Trade Center. He would have celebrated his 30th birthday later in September. His friend and Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity brother, Larry Polatsch was also killed on September 11, 2001. Their names are listed together on Panel N-27 at the North Pool 9-11 Memorial.
Meredith Lynn Whalen, 23; grew up in Canton, Michigan, where she developed a love of horses and riding and competed on the cross-country and swimming teams at Plymouth-Salem High School. Ms. Whalen earned a BA in business from the University of Michigan in 2000. Ms Whalen was a research associate with Fred Alger Management and lived in Hoboken, N.J.
Marvin R. Woods, 57; was born in Owendale, Michigan and lived in Great Mills, Maryland. He worked for 18 years as a civilian communications manager for the Navy and had been assigned to the Pentagon since the mid-1990s. Woods’ office was located where the plane was crashed into the Pentagon on September 11.
Sandra Lee Wright, 57; born in Detroit, Michigan and lived in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. Sandra worked for Aon Corporation. She is survived by her husband, daughter, and her first grandchild.
Marc Scott Zeplin, 33; graduated from the University of Michigan, BBA and MBA, and worked as a vice president, Cantor Fitzgerald, at the World Trade center. At U-M he was a broadcaster for Michigan sports. Marc’s son would later attend the University of Michigan. His friend and Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity brother, Larry Polatsch was also killed on September 11, 2001. Their names are listed together on Panel N-27 at the North Pool 9-11 Memorial.
