I STILL REMEMBER
Yuk Ping Wong, 47, died when the World Trade Center was attacked on the morning of September 11, 2001. “Winnie” was training to be a tax auditor for the State of New York in the Department of Taxation and Finance, a position she had been hired for the previous June.
Yuk Ping Wong had moved to the United States from Hong Kong after marrying Chung-Ping Wong. She was a mother of two, Eddie, now 26, and Christopher, now 22, who were living with their father in Brooklyn. They had divorced in 1996, and Winnie pursued her dream of a college education, graduating in 1999 with honors with a degree in accounting from Bernard M. Baruch College in Manhattan. She was a member of Beta Alpha Psi and the Golden Key Accounting Society.
Winnie worked on the 86th floor of the south tower. She was last seen by co-workers on the 78th floor, waiting for a transfer elevator to the ground floor.
She had been taking classes in preparation for baptism at the Chinese Alliance Church, where a memorial service was held on October 13, 2001. According to her sisters and her co-workers, she felt she had found her niche and was devoting her life to her job; she sang in the choir at the Chinese Alliance Church; she was cheerful, happy, and brilliant; a person who loved shopping and dining out.
Besides her two sons, Yuk Ping Wong was survived by her mother, Yue-Ying Leung, and her father, Siu-Tak Leung, of Brooklyn; a brother, Wai-Hung “Daniel” Leung of San Francisco, and five sisters: Ariane Yuk-Ling Leung, Kit-Ching Mak and Tsui-Sim “Zoe” Leung of Brooklyn; Fuscat Yim-Fong Leung of Hong Kong, and Jacqueline Leung of Vancouver.
Ariane Leung wrote in a tribute, “News of the World Trade Center attack terribly impacted our family. We have, however, found much hope and comfort in the midst of the tragedy. We know Winnie has moved onward, to the sweetest home in heaven, a place where she is happily staying. There we shall all meet again one day.”
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My condolences go out, again, to all the family members of the victims of the coordinated terrorist attacks on 9/11/01. We cannot ever imagine the loss you have suffered; we can only remain vigilant against such an attack in the future.
I would like to thank Carl MacGowan of Newsday for the bulk of the information included in this memorial, also available here.
I STILL REMEMBER
From the Legacy.Com site:
Charles Joseph Houston was 6-foot-1, weighed 225 pounds and had a thick mustache. “He had a rough exterior, but inside, he was such a mush, especially around children.” said Linda Houston, his wife.
He frolicked in his backyard pool with his 2- year-old nieces, read to his 9-year-old nephew, and in general “snuggled with them.” He went for walks with them and took them to movies and malls. “He was like a second father,” she said.
“But he was a pull-no-punches type of guy,” she added. “What you see is what you get. He wouldn’t sugarcoat on anything. If you asked him for an opinion, he’d tell you what he really thought, sometimes even things you didn’t want to hear.”
He and his brother-in-law, Otto Diodato, the father of his nieces and nephew, used to be efficient handymen in their two houses, merely a few yards apart. They’d be constantly concocting projects (redoing the kitchen countertops, building fences, changing the bathroom tiles) and actually finishing them. But shortly before the September attack, they had become more like “Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble,” his wife said. “They would joke around, enjoy each other’s company, and the projects would last forever.”
Mr. Houston worked on the 84th floor of Tower Two, for Euro Brokers, Inc. He was a member of Council 5989 of the Knights of Columbus. May God continue to give peace and comfort to his family.
I STILL REMEMBER
From the Legacy.Com site:
At age 7, Joshua Aron would sit at the kitchen table bent over a copy of The Wall Street Journal, analyzing the stock tables with his chocolate milk. “I explained what makes it go up and down,” said his mother, Ruth Aron. “He loved to do puzzles, and to him it was just another puzzle.”
Fast forward two decades. Mr. Aron was an equities trader at Cantor Fitzgerald, facing a bank of computer screens. When there was a break in the action, he sent love notes to his wife, Rachel, by instant messenger. “We were best friends,” Mrs. Aron said. “Everything just came naturally.”
Mr. Aron’s intense, childlike enthusiasm made him a blur of activity in the kitchen, on a bike, or researching new fascinations on the Internet. He delighted in life’s details, repainting his Upper West Side apartment, installing a 200-bottle wine closet and a 90- inch projection-screen television.
Even in the high-stakes world of finance, Mr. Aron, 29, remained playful, quoting liberally from Austin Powers movies (“Would they be ill-tempered sea bass?”). If Mrs. Aron was upset, he would cheer her up by promising to help get back at her tormentors. “You want to get ’em?” he would ask with mock intensity. “Come on, let’s get ’em right now.”
We will never forget the many lives cut short on that fateful day. It is my prayer that Mr. Aron be remembered forever as one of the first heroes in the Global War on Terror. May God continue to give your family peace and strength.
I STILL REMEMBER
From the Legacy.Com site:
The crooning ballads by Cantonese pop stars reminded Yin Ping Wong of his childhood in Hong Kong. Mr. Wong, known to his friends as Steven, immigrated with his family in the late 1970’s to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, from Hong Kong. He was 12 years old, the sixth of seven children and spoke only a little English. It was a difficult transition for a boy with a gentle soul.
At that time, Brooklyn’s Chinese-American population had not congealed yet and Manhattan’s Chinatown was smaller than it is today. But as the community grew, Hong Kong culture became more accessible, and Yin Ping would buy CD’s and rent concert videos of his favorite singers. He liked Alan Tam and Sam Hui for their poignant lyrics and robust voices. “He liked people who really can sing,” said Nicole Wong, Yin Ping’s younger sister. “He preferred voice over looks.”
Bensonhurst now has its own thriving Chinese community, but Canal Street in Manhattan remains the bustling commercial center of choice. Yin Ping would stop by its fruit stands, bakeries and video stores on the way home from Aon. His mother loved to watch serialized Chinese dramas, but when new episodes were not available, he would bring home American movies.
Another life, cut way too short. Another family, missing a piece that can never be replaced. This nation will always remember you.
I STILL REMEMBER
And as long as I have breath, I WILL NOT FORGET.
