3. In Memory of: EDELMIRO ABAD

As the father of three girls who had gone to dancing school since they were toddlers, Edelmiro Abad, widely known as Ed, was a proud fixture at dozens of recitals. So it was with delight that he supported his middle child's aspiration to open her own dance studio someday.

"He was right there with me," said his daughter Jennifer, 23. "This was something he wanted as much as I did."

Mr. Abad, 54, who lived in Brooklyn with his wife, Lorraine, and three daughters ‹ including Rebecca, 26, and Serena, 19 ‹ was also a fixture at Fiduciary Trust Company International, where he was senior vice president and had worked for 26 years. The company was a second home, his relatives said, and its staff another family.

His family members have met with co- workers who shared offices with Mr. Abad on the 90th floor of 2 World Trade Center. "Some of the people who survived are devastated," Ms. Abad said. "They don't know how to go on."

2. In Memory Of: MARIA ROSE ABAD

MARIA ROSE ABAD

World Trade Center

LITERARY ESCAPIST

Marie Abad loved her job as a senior vice president at Keefe Bruyette & Woods, where she was one of the highest-ranking women in the firm. But it was equally important to her to find an escape from work, said her husband, Rudy, and she found that through the hundreds of books she went through each year.

Ms. Abad, 49, read on the train commuting from Long Island to the World Trade Center, and she read on vacation. Each October, she and her husband would spend three weeks in Hawaii — a tradition that started on their honeymoon and continued over the next two decades — and every year she would make sure she had plenty to read. Hawaii meant down time: days on end when the biggest decision was where to have dinner, and the passage of time was marked by the leisurely flutter of turned pages — novels, biographies, celebrity tell-alls.

"She'd go through eight books in three weeks, and these were not little books," Mr. Abad said. "I know because I did the packing."

Ms. Abad, who was born and raised in Queens, did not plan on a career in business. She studied sociology at Queens College and dreamed of being a teacher. She and her husband had plotted out the lives they would lead when the workaday world could be left behind: six months of the year traveling was their plan. And of course, a world of books to explore.

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on April 7, 2002.

1. In Memory Of: GORDON MCCANNEL "GORDY" AAMOTH JR.

GORDON MCCANNEL "GORDY" AAMOTH JR.

World Trade Center

LOOKING GOOD

Gordy Aamoth was at the top of his game. His golf was improving, and he had a membership in the Creek Club in Locust Valley, N.Y. He had girlfriends. And on Monday, Sept. 10, in his hometown of Minneapolis, he completed his biggest merger deal as an investment banker at Sandler O'Neill & Partners. The deal was to be officially announced the next day at the firm's World Trade Center office.

Mr. Aamoth, 32, was always a good athlete. He was the captain of his high school football team and played hockey. He went to Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., and earned a business degree. "He always knew he wanted to go to Wall Street," said his father, Gordon.

Gordy Aamoth also loved parties and how he looked. "Every situation was more fun when Gordy was there," said his mother, Mary. "He was always beautifully put together."

Despite entreaties to consider returning to Minneapolis, Gordy Aamoth was determined to stay in New York, even if it was far from his family. "He loved New York," his father said. "He often said, 'You had to know it to love it, and most people don't.' "

But there will be a touch of Gordy Aamoth at home. His high school, the Blake School, has decided to name its new football field the Gordy Aamoth Memorial Stadium.
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 16, 2001.


Gordon McCannel Aamoth, Jr., age 32, of New York City, missing and presumed dead in the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001. Born at Eglin Air Force Base, Ft. Walton Beach, FL, August 8, 1969. Family members include his parents, Mary & (Dr.) Gordon Aamoth of Wayzata and brothers, Erik & wife, Tracy, Peter; aunts and uncles; Bruce & Barbara Aamoth, Archie & Trish Aamoth, Jane & Don Swanson, Elizabeth & Jim Fandrich, Kathy & John Dixon, Nancy Keating, Tim Keating, as well as many loving cousins and many, many friends. Family members that have passed include grandparents, Louise & Gordon Aamoth of Fargo, Gen & Stan Keating of Minot. Gordy was a 1988 graduate of The Blake School and a 1992 graduate of Babson College. He had been employed in New York by Sandler, O'Neill & Partners since 1993. Previously, he had worked at Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis. Memorial service Thursday, September 20, 2001 at Basilica of St. Mary, 88 No. 17th St., Minneapolis at 3 PM. Visitation at 1 PM preceding the service. The family prefers memorials to The Blake School, 110 South Blake Road, Hopkins, MN 55343 or Evans Scholars Foundation, 1 Briar Road, Golf, IL 60029.

Paid Notice published in THE STAR TRIBUNE.