Michele and nine-month-old Matthew mourn the death of husband and father Michael Lunden, an '82 alumnus of Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill.
|
Among those killed in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were many members of the Ignatian family, including alumni, alumnae, faculty, students, and their relatives. |
Neilie Heffernan Casey, Holy Cross '90, was on board the plane that was crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center; Deora Bodley, a junior at Santa Clara University, died on the plane downed by terrorists near Pittsburgh; Georgetown professor Leslie Whittington and her family were on board the plane crashed by terrorists into the Pentagon.
Other members of the larger Ignatian family died on those ill-fated airplanes, and many others perished on the ground. The loss of lives connected to Xavier High School on New York's 16th Street alone was beyond comprehension. Charlie Heeran, '96, working in the floors above, and James Riches, '89, a fireman down below, were among those killed during the attacks on the WTC, as was Sean Lugano and Matthew Burke, football teammates who graduated in '91. Matthew's father, John, is Xavier's assistant headmaster. Xavier's students, teachers, and staff lost 29 relatives, including three parents, in addition to many alumni.
|
|
|
Michele and nine-month-old Matthew mourn the death of husband and father Michael Lunden, an '82 alumnus of Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill. |
No Jesuit school in the area was immune from loss. Loyola School and Regis High in Manhattan, Fordham University and Prep in the Bronx, St. Peter's University and Prep in Jersey City; Fairfield University and Prep in Connecticut-all lost graduates to the attacks on that horrible day; firemen and police officers and office workers.
Jesuit parishes and retreat houses in the area lost longtime parishioners and retreatants. Fr. Walter Modrys, SJ, is pastor at St. Ignatius Church, one of the parishes that felt direct loss. The homily he gave at one memorial mass is available. See "As I See It" from the Winter Issue.
Further losses were felt by other Jesuit institutions across the country. Loyola Blakefield in Baltimore lost Daniel McNeal ('90) to the attacks at the WTC; he had been scheduled to walk his sister down the aisle at her wedding two weeks from that date. Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill., lost Michael Lunden ('82) whose widow Michele and son Matthew are pictured above, leaving a memorial service in Chicago.
"No matter what people do to us, they can't change our hearts," said Fr. David Ciancimino, SJ, Xavier High's headmaster. "There's a lot of anger in our city right now, but we can't let these events change our hearts."
Back to Amid the Ashes Feature Article