Activists, musicians, devoted family members and working people now linked by tragedy
Passengers and crew aboard Flight 3407: Their stories
Some of them were well known. Like Alison Des Forges, a human rights activist and world-renowned expert on Rwanda, who was coming home from a public debate with a member of British Parliament.
Or two musicians who played with Chuck Mangione’s jazz band, Coleman Mellett and Gerry Niewood, who were going to star in a jazz concert Friday night at Kleinhans Music Hall.
Or Beverly Eckert, the widow of a Buffalo-born man killed in the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11, who met President Obama last week. Obama called her “an inspiration.”
Others were less widely known, but no less loved.
A devoted father of two, David Borner. A world traveler with family in Buffalo, John G. Roberts III. Mary Pettys, called “Belle,” who became engaged in December and was planning a June wedding.
“Every morning since my mother’s death, she would go to Tim Hortons, get a coffee for herself and my father, and bring it over to his house, sit there and have coffee,” said her brother, Patrick Pettys. “Not a day went by when she missed it. She was a saint.”
None of them imagined this would happen, when they stepped on board Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Newark, N.J., bound for Buffalo.
The plane was late getting off the ground. Eckert called her sister from the plane while it idled on the ground, to let her know she would be delayed a while.
“She said, ‘Don’t wait up, it looks like it’s gonna be late.’ But I did wait up,” said Karen Eckert, an Amherst resident. “When we realized [it had crashed], we went straight to the airport. It’s just unreal.”
As the plane approached Buffalo Niagara International Airport at about 10:15 p.m., it abruptly plunged out of the drizzly sky and crashed into the home of a Clarence family of six, taking the lives of all 49 people on board, as well as one man in the house.
But one fact emerged as names of the victims trickled out in the aftermath: The passengers killed were as varied and multifaceted as the city they were headed toward.
Here are some of their stories.
Genocide expert
Alison Des Forges, a Human Rights Watch senior adviser, had been on her way home from a London trip to discuss abuses of the Rwandan government with a member of Parliament.
Before she left New York City that afternoon, she said she was not looking forward to taking a small plane to Buffalo in blustery weather.
“But she took it anyway,” said her husband, Roger, a University at Buffalo history professor.
Des Forges, 66, was known for her grace, humility and intellectual successes — one of which was a prestigious MacArthur “genius” grant, another a book about the Rwandan genocide. She conducted meetings with famous peace advocates, such as Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela.
“She worked day and night to save people’s lives,” said Helene Kramer, a family friend.
Des Forges and her husband met as Schenectady-area high school students and Model United Nations members. Des Forges was secretary-general. “I felt that she was beautiful in both body and spirit,” he said.
Her focus of study, on the lake region of eastern Africa and Rwanda and Burundi, followed her volunteering as a Harvard undergraduate to teach Rwandan refugees. Her Ph. D. dissertation at Yale University, about the Rwandan monarchy, led the nonprofit organization Human Rights Watch to send her with a team to research ethnic tensions and political killings in 1992.
Two years later, war began, just as her report had warned.
“Her expertise was sought again and again and again by national authorities on cases unfolding in their courts of individuals facing deportation, or on trial for alleged involvement in the genocide,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, in a statement.
Des Forges’ latest trip to London was for a forum discussion with a conservative member of Parliament and focused on international development. She thought afterward that she’d been persuasive, her husband said.
A former adjunct professor at UB, Des Forges came to Buffalo with her husband in 1973.
“She was an advocate for people who could not advocate for themselves,” said Kramer. “It’s a loss for everyone.”
Music was their life
At least three people on board the plane lived for music.
Two of them were lucky enough to play in the band of Chuck Mangione, a popular jazz musician whose hits include the song “Feels So Good.” The band was scheduled to play Friday night in Kleinhans; that concert was canceled.
Gerry Niewood, 64, a Rochester native, played saxophone and flute, and had been playing on Mangione’s jazz records since he was 14.
Coleman Mellett, of East Brunswick, N.J., played guitar.
“I’m in shock over the horrible, heartbreaking tragedy of the crash of Flight 3407, which took the lives of my dear friends and band members,” Mangione said in a statement. “I am grieving and praying with their families and friends.”
The other musician aboard the plane was Susan Wehle, cantor at Williamsville’s Temple Beth Am for the last seven years.
Wehle, 55, loved music. She even recorded a CD called “Songs of Healing and Hope.” At her temple, she was known for the classes she organized to instruct congregants on leading services. She had a degree in acting, and performed with theater companies and conducted choirs across the United States, Canada and Israel.
“Her concern for others, her love of the life of the spirit, was infectious,” said Rabbi Irwin A. Tanenbaum of Temple Beth Am. “Any who knew Cantor Wehle came under her spell.”
Young and promising
Three young women aboard the plane, all of whom died at just 24, will forever serve as heartbreaking reminders of promising futures cut short.
Ellyce Kausner was one. Known as “Elly,” the Clarence native consistently amazed her family by her achievements — and her potential.
A graduate of Canisius College, where she won an award for being the student with the most potential for the study of law, Kausner was in her second year at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville.
“She had more life in her than 10 of us,” said John Kausner, her father.
Madeline Linn Loftus was also full of spirit. The Parsippany, N. J., resident loved ice hockey with a passion — playing it, watching it, even driving the Zamboni when needed.
Loftus was on her way into Buffalo for a reunion of a team she used to play for: the Buffalo State College women’s ice hockey squad.
Rebecca Lynne Shaw had already displayed the drive and discipline needed to succeed in her chosen career — as a pilot.
Shaw, of Maple View, Wash., had decided in high school, where she was an athlete, that she wanted a career aboard airplanes. Besides her career as a co-pilot with Colgan Air, an airline she had joined a year ago, she was a certified flight instructor.
Heading for happiness
A few aboard the plane had their heads full of plans for weddings they were soon to attend — or participate in. Happy occasions, now forever changed.
One woman, 30-year-old Lorin Maurer of Princeton, N. J., was traveling to Buffalo to attend the wedding of her boyfriend’s brother. Her boyfriend, Kevin Kuwik, is the son of former Erie County Legislator Edward Kuwik. Maurer worked at Princeton University.
“Belle” Pettys was planning her own June wedding. She had gotten engaged in December — a lovely present, for her 50th birthday.
Pettys, who grew up in West Seneca in a family of 10 kids, worked for many years at Blue- Cross BlueShield of Western New York before taking a job at TriZetto. She loved spending
time with her large family and friends, family members recalled.
A tragic coincidence
In a sad twist, the victim who was killed on the ground was a former co-worker of one of the victims on Flight 3407.
Douglas C. Wielinski, who was killed when the plane crashed into his Long Street home, worked at Henkel Corp. in Buffalo until 2003, according to a Henkel employee.
Passenger Kevin Johnston worked at Henkel and was returning on Flight 3407 from a business trip, the employee told The News. The Buffalo facility was closed Friday in Henkel’s honor.
The 9/11 widow
One death in particular resonated across the nation because of its haunting poignancy.
Beverly Eckert, who saw her husband, Sean Rooney, die when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, was on her way back home to Buffalo, her birthplace, to celebrate a few special events.
She was flying into Buffalo on a high note. Just last week, she had met with President Obama in Washington, for a discussion of the detainee situation in Guantanamo Bay.
The meeting was more public recognition of Eckert’s high-profile role as an advocate for victims’ families in the wake of her husband’s death.
Eckert was impressed with Obama. She saved the napkin from under his drinking glass, as a souvenir, and bragged to friends about it.
“I sat right across from Obama at the meeting,” she wrote in an e-mail to some friends, “and although I took a photo of him, I opted not to use the flash on my camera since that would have been rude. So this is a really blurry photo, but you can still tell who it is.”
The admiration was mutual. Obama, in turn, was clearly impressed with Eckert — a slight, blonde woman known for her tailored clothes, her love of home renovation projects and pottery-making, and her unstoppable drive and determination.
Obama called Eckert a “tireless advocate for the families, those whose lives were forever changed on that September day.”
“I pray that her family finds peace and comfort in the hard days ahead,” the president said during a news conference Friday morning.
Eckert, 57, a resident of Stamford, Conn., was bound for Buffalo in anticipation of two events she always looked forward to: a gathering with her family and Rooney’s, in commemoration of what would have been Sean’s 58th birthday on Sunday; and a ceremony at Canisius High School in which she was to award a student with a memorial scholarship in honor of her husband, an alumnus of the school.
“She was an extremely intelligent, competent person. When she was faced with what she faced, and saw a reason to do something, she put her many talents toward that,” said Karen Eckert of Amherst, Beverly’s sister. “But she wanted balance in her life, too. She said, ‘Every day is precious.’ ”
Eckert, a tireless advocate for the families of 9/11 victims in the years following the terrorist attacks, became a national figure and authority on the issue.
Friends were stunned by the idea that Eckert had died in a way that paralleled her husband — a fiery plane crash.
“I think there’s great irony,” said Pamela Germain, a vice president at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and close friend of Eckert’s. “Sean died with thousands; she died with dozens. The unique circumstances under which they both perished — it’s a puzzle. I can’t pretend I’m reconciled to all this.”
More on the victims:
Mary "Belle" Pettys, the third of 10 siblings in her West Seneca family, became engaged in December on her 50th birthday and she was to be married in June. Pettys was returning from a brief business trip to New Jersey.
Patrick Pettys remembered his sister as "a joy to be around, funny, intelligent, talkative."
She attended Mount Mercy Academy. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Canisius College and went on to a brief stint writing obituaries for the Courier-Express. She later spent 25 years working for BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and since 2006 had been employed by TriZetto, a health care company. She leaves behind nine siblings and her father, Howard.
"Every morning since my mother's death, she would go to Tim Hortons, get a coffee for herself and my father, and bring it over to his house, sit there, have coffee and then she would come home and do her work. Not a day went by when she missed it," Patrick Pettys said. "She was a saint."
— Colin Dabkowski
Fort Erie resident Don McDonald was the go-to man when things went wrong.
McDonald, 48, was the technical manager at the Pharmetics Inc. plant in Fort Erie, Ont., and had been with the company for 26 years, said Peter Lucyshyn, vice president of quality operations.
His job was to troubleshoot equipment problems and drug formulations for the Jarvis Street plant, one of two that manufactures over-the-counter drugs for the Montreal-based company, Lucyshyn said. Pharmetics is one of the largest private-label, pharmaceutical companies in Canada.
"Don was returning from New Jersey, where he was reviewing some packaging equipment that the company was planning to buy," Lucyshyn said. "We are all in shock over this tragic incident, and our hearts and condolences go out to the family."
McDonald leaves behind a wife and young daughter, Lucyshyn said. He worked long hours, enjoyed golfing and traveled periodically for the company, he added.
Grief counselors met with employees Friday to help them cope with the loss of a hard-working colleague and friend.
— Sandra Tan
Coleman Mellett, 34, was heading to Buffalo to perform with jazz flugelhorn whiz Chuck Mangione.
The jazz guitarist lived in East Brunswick, N.J., with his wife, jazz singer Jeanie Bryson, the daughter of Dizzy Gillespie. They met when he played guitar in her backup band.
They often performed together, and were scheduled to headline a Valentine's Day gala tonightsat, in Trenton, N.J.
Mellett, a native of Natick, Mass., was hired by Mangione after the trumpeter spotted him on a Manhattan cable television show. Mellett has played with Mangione since 1999, touring the world.
Mellett's musical career began when he talked his parents out of piano lessons … and into giving him a guitar.
"A guitar's a lot easier to carry around than a piano," Mellett joked to the Newark Star-Ledger last year. "I love that you can play chords and melody, that it covers a lot of styles, has infinite possibilities."
— Andrew Z. Galarneau
Douglas C. Wielinski, a veteran and marketing manager at Luvata Buffalo, enjoyed visiting history classes at Clarence Central High School and sharing his experiences from Vietnam with his daughters' generation.
While his wife, Karen, and daughter, Jill, managed to get out of their Long Street home after the Continental airplane crashed into the house, Wielinski, 61, perished in the crash and inferno.
Karen Wielinski, a secretary in the personnel department of Clarence Central Schools for five years, told WBEN Radio she believes her husband was in the dining room in the center of their house when the plane hit. Karen Wielinski crawled out of the family room in the rear of the house. Her daughter, Jill, was blown out of the house, according to Erie County Executive Chris Collins.
The Wielinskis have three other daughters: Kimberly; Jessica, of the Town of Monroe; and Lori, of Cincinnati.
Clarence School Superintendent Thomas Coseo said all the daughters graduated from Clarence High School, and Lori Wielinski played soccer with his daughter.
"He [Douglas] was always around when Lori was playing soccer," Coseo said. "He was very supportive of all the kids in their academics and athletic programs."
He said Wielinski liked talking to high school classes.
"Doug was committed to the students," Coseo said. "He thoroughly enjoyed the lectures he did. He enjoyed sharing his experience."
"We're all deeply saddened," said Jack Alonge, director of human services at Luvata, the North Buffalo manufacturer formerly known as Outokumpu American Brass. "Everybody is extending their condolences to the family. He was a quiet, wonderful, good person who cared deeply for his family."
— Barbara O'Brien
Gerard "Gerry" Niewood, 64, a noted jazz musician who played blew saxophone and flute with Chuck Mangione and other artists for more than four decades, was arriving for a Mangione date at Kleinhans Music Hall.
Niewood was a Rochester native who at 14 played baritone saxophone on Mangione's first record, "Have I Told You So," reissued as "B'bye" on Mangione's "Children of Sanchez" album.
Niewood, who lived in New Jersey, had Buffalo roots since graduating from the University at Buffalo in 1965 with a bachelor of science degree. He graduated from Rochester's the Eastman School of Music in 1970.
He played frequently at the original Tralfamadore Cafe in the 1970s, and returned often to play Buffalo venues.
Niewood's name was heard outside jazz circles in Simon & Garfunkel's "Live in Central Park," where Art Garfunkel named him on stage. Niewood also was a frequent performer at Radio City Music Hall, and with Liza Minelli's orchestra.
He leaves his wife, Gurly, and his son, Adam.
— Andrew Z. Galarneau
From the time he was a kid, Joseph J. Zuffoletto loved airplanes. "He had his pilot's license before he had his driver's license," said his sister, Jaime Rose of Mesa, Ariz. "If anyone loved to fly, it was him."
Born in Rochester, Zuffoletto's parents, Roselle and Jim Zuffoletto, moved the family to San Diego to join relatives in a warmer climate.
A bright guy with a passion for science fiction, Joe Zuffoletto graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and worked for awhile flying cargo routes, his sister said. Eventually, he became a commercial pilot. Zuffoletto, 27, joined Colgan Air in September 2005, and recently was promoted to captain.
He rented an apartment with two friends in Jamestown, where Colgan stationed him. Frequently, he flew into Buffalo to see his grandmother in Cheektowaga. When his sister saw the crash on TV Thursday night, she called her grandmother, who lives near the airport, to make sure she was OK. Next, Rose called and texted her brother, but got to no response. Zuffoletto died while flying as a passenger.
— Mary B. Pasciak
Skydiving. Check. Wakeboarding. Check.
Ellyce Kausner had a mental list of things to do in life, and methodically did them.
A week or so ago she went swimming with dolphins, and no who knew her was surprised.
"She had more life in her than 10 of us," said her father, John.
Known as "Elly," Kausner, 24, grew up in Clarence in a tight-knit family for whom religious faith is a central part of their lives.
She graduated from Clarence High School and Canisius College, and was a second-year student at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville. At Canisius, she won the tuition award given to a senior with the most potential for the study of law.
She was traveling home to visit her family and boyfriend before final exams. She also had three nephews who wanted her as their Valentine at school.
Friends and family described her as bright, bubbly and magnetic. They said she was devoted to her family and loved animals, especially her two cats.
"She was the life of the party, and enjoyed being the center of attention," her father said.
He saw her just a few days ago in Florida while on vacation with his wife, Marilyn. As they parted, their last words to each other were, "I love you."
— Henry L. Davis
John G. Roberts III, a Lewiston native who lived in India, was returning home for an overdue visit with family members.
"It's sad because we all haven't seen him for such a long time, and everyone was patiently waiting for him and [Flight 3407] just crashed like it was nothing," said Chelsea Gagliardo, Roberts' niece.
Roberts, 48, was the oldest of five children and grew up in Lewiston. He lived in the area off and on, traveling overseas often, Gagliardo said.
"The last time I saw him was probably over a year ago," she added. "I was so excited to see him."
Roberts had been an active member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Niagara Falls when he lived in the area.
Roberts' father, John Jr., is the owner of Apple Granny's, a popular restaurant on Center Street, the main drag in the Village of Lewiston.
"I grew up in Lewiston and John Roberts [the father] has always been a fixture here," said Bridget Schroeder, owner of the neighboring Village Bake Shoppe. "He's 100 percent supportive of the community and area as a whole, and takes great pride in his family and community. I hate to think of something like this happening to this family. It's a real tragedy."
Sandy Hays Meis, consulting director of Lower Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce, agreed.
"Especially, with the nature of their (restaurant) business, the Robertses touch so many people here in Western New York," she said. "We all share their grief and pain, and wish them peace."
— Emma Sapong, Teresa Sharp
Jean Srnecz, an executive for a book and entertainment distributor who lived in New Jersey, was coming to town to visit family, according to Publishers Weekly.
Born in 1949, she was a 1971 graduate of D'Youville College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in history. She also earned a master's degree in political science from the University at Buffalo and, later, a master's degree in finance from New York University.
She had worked for Baker & Taylor, one of the nation's top book suppliers, since 1975 and held the title of senior vice president of merchandising.
Srnecz was described as "the face of B&T to the publishing industry," by Arnie Wright, the company's president.
"She was instrumental in carrying out all our initiatives, but most importantly she was a true friend to those she worked with," Wright said. "If you start a list with the great people in the world, she is at the top."
—Janice Habuda
Clay Yarber didn't like to fly. He hadn't flown in years, his former wife said, but worked up the courage to book a flight from his home in Riverside, Calif., to visit some friends in Buffalo.
Until Friday, Yarber cheated death. The U.S. Marine had served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War and earned two Purple Hearts among his other service awards, said ex-wife Shari Ingram, who lives in Largo, Fla.
Yarber, 62, had been shot, his lungs filled with blood, Ingram said. He had received shrapnel wounds and other service-related injuries that would haunt him throughout his life.
But he lived. He settled in the St. Petersburg, Fla., area for about 30 years. He sang and played guitar for local bands, such as Grey Imprint and Powerplay in the 1980s, said Ingram, who was married to Yarber for four years and had a son with him.
"I can't remember him ever flying in all the years we've been married or ever since, and he takes one flight?" Ingram said. "What kind of odds is that?"
Yarber is survived by a son, Christopher, who lived with his father this past year in Riverside; three other daughters, the youngest of whom is 15; and his mother, Ingram said.
— Sandra Tan
Beth Ann Kushner had spent the past several weeks in California, where she chronicled her adventures for friends back home through photos on her Facebook page.
The return of the 19-year-old Angola resident was eagerly awaited Thursday. A friend had written at 10:28 p.m.: "when r u gonna be home?"
Kushner was a 2007 graduate of Eden Junior-Senior High School. She attended Keuka College for a year, where she competed on the tennis team, and planned to complete her college education at Buffalo State College.
Friday, postings reflected the grief of her friends, near and far.
"Rest in peace Beth," wrote one. "Even though we were friends while you were at Keuka for that short time you were one awesome person you will be missed."
She is survived by her parents, Lynn and Julius; a sister, Megan; and a brother, Joe.
— Janice Habuda
Matilda Quintero had been a flight attendant for only a year, but she enjoyed every day of her work.
"She was all excited about her job. She finally got the job she wanted," Alison Eckert, a neighbor of hers in Woodbridge, N.J., told a local newspaper there. "She was a very nice lady. She always looked on the bright side."
Quintero, 57, was hired by Colgan Air in May 2008. She owned a home in Woodbridge, where she lived with her mother, who is in her 90s, and her daughter Cecilia Quintero, 21.
Cecilia told the New Jersey Star-Ledger that the family shared her mother's joy in her new job. At the same time, though, "We always worried every day," Cecilia said.
Matilda Quintero's husband died about a decade ago, according to the Star-Ledger. Quintero's other daughter, Catherine Quintero, 32, is a senior at Drew University in Madison, N.J.
Flight attendant Donna Prisco, 52, of Randolph, N.J., also started working with Colgan Air in May 2008.
— Mary B. Pasciak
Jerome "Jerry" Krasuski, 53, was returning home to Cheektowaga from a one-day business trip. He was a program manager for Northrop Grumman Amherst Systems, a defense contractor in Williamsville, where he was employed for more than 20 years. Three of his colleagues also died in the crash.
He was remembered Friday as a loving, thoughtful, family man who took care of his mother, Stephanie, and always made time for elderly relatives.
"He had a heart of gold," said a cousin, Karen Kras. "I mentioned the other day that I needed a lock for my basement door. He disappeared, came back and said "I had this one in my tool box.' He was always doing little things like that for everyone."
Krasuski was a skilled woodworker who enjoyed building furniture, loved wildlife and had a particular soft spot for "The Three Stooges."
Krasuski and his wife, Justine, were married for 29 years. He walked daughter Stacy Krukowski down the aisle in 2006 and became grandfather to his first grandchild, Ava, four months ago. He also leaves behind a brother, Norman, of North Tonawanda and a sister, Carol Wind, of Michigan.
— Samantha Maziarz Christmann
Ice hockey was part of Madeline Linn Loftus' life whether she was in Buffalo, Minnesota or New Jersey.
Loftus, 24, of Parsippany, N.J., was on her way to Buffalo to reunite with 14 other alumnae of Buffalo State College women's ice hockey team for a Saturday game.
Known as "Maddy," she played forward for Buffalo State during her freshman and sophomore years from 2002 to 2004. She later transferred to St. Mary's University of Minnesota, where she played forward and studied marketing. She graduated from St. Mary's University in 2006.
As a teenager, Loftus was the only girl on the ice hockey team at Parsippany Hills High School.
"She was quite a trailblazer," said Principal Nancy Gigante.
"Madeline was an extremely confident individual. She knew who she was and as a result of that, she was a natural leader," said Terry Mannor, coach of the St. Mary's women's hockey team. "Everyone who met Madeline, even for a few minutes, will remember her. People knew her and respected her."
— Denise Jewell Gee
David M. Borner of Pendleton was supposed to leave for a Florida cruise with his family Friday morning. That is how he came to be on Flight 3407, a neighbor said.
Originally, Borner planned to drive both ways for his business trip in New Jersey. But he was afraid he would get back too late to catch the early-morning flight planeto Florida for the family's cruise. So he hopped a flight.
"I was supposed to drive him to the airport" for his trip to Florida, said Richard E. Ganter, another longtime neighbor. "I called Cheryl [Borner's wife], and she told me what happened. I was very stunned."
The father of Michael, an eighth-grader at Starpoint Middle School named Michael and Nicole, a senior at Starpoint High School, Borner was described as a family man who was friendly and outgoing.
"He was very involved with his children," said Ruth Belling, who lives nearby with her husband, Theodore.
According to his neighbors, Borner worked out of his home for Kraft Foods.
It seemed like a good time in his life, one of his friend said. His daughter, a top student and soccer star, was graduating this year and was to play soccer at Binghamton University. Everyone in the family was excited about the cruise, friends said. And a big party was being planned for Borner's 50th birthday, on March 15.
"It's just so tragic," Belling said.
— Niki Cervantes
Lorin Maurer was flying in to attend the wedding of Keith Kuwik, brother of her boyfriend, Kevin Kuwik. It would be her first trip to Buffalo.
Maurer, 30, worked for Princeton University's Office of Development Priorities, and she worked closely with its athletic department. Kevin Kuwik is director of basketball operations at Butler University in Indianapolis.
"We've been talking about moving to the same place," Kuwik said. "She used to work at the NCAA in Indianapolis, and she was putting out some feelers there. The expectation was that, when the season was over, I would put out some feelers on the East Coast, coaching-wise.
Kuwik, former assistant basketball coach at Ohio University, served as an Army captain in Operation Iraqi Freedom. "Coming back from Iraq, and I didn't lose anybody," he said. "You think if you can get through Iraq unscathed, you wouldn't have something like this happen."
The bridal couple will place a red rose on the altar of St. Louis Church today in honor of Lorin Maurer.
— Jane Kwiatkowski
Capt. Marvin D. Renslow, 47, lived on a Florida cul-de-sac with his wife, a son who is a senior in high school, and a daughter, about 11, whom he often escorted home from the school bus.
"He was just a wonderful man," said Kathie Slawiak, who left the Buffalo area about 24 years ago. She and her husband, David, live about six houses away from the Renslow home in Lutz, Fla., which is near Tampa-St. Petersburg.
Records show Renslow, an Iowa native, was a small-business owner in Florida before joining Colgan Air in September 2005. He was among the first homeowners in their subdivision, which started to sprout about 12 years ago, Slawiak said.
Neighbors knew that Renslow's work often kept him away from home. But when he was home they would hear his drumming. He had been a drummer in high school, and his son had developed an interest in drums.
When neighbors on Glen Oak Lane gathered for a pig roast each year they would see Renslow's jovial side, Slawiak said. "He was just a friendly, outgoing man," she said.
— Matthew Spina
Zhaofang Guo, 53, of Amherst was killed in Thursday's crash.
Guo, who worked in the Ford Stamping Plant in Hamburg, was married to Ping Wang, a researcher at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
The couple's 15-year-old son, Kevin, is a high school sophomore.
Mary E. Maloney, the family's attorney, said Guo's family is devastated.
"He was a really very nice and kind man," Maloney said. "I know he'll be greatly missed by his family."
Teri Doren, one of Guo's neighbors, said the family generally kept to itself, but Guo would usually smile and say hello to her when they saw each other outside.
Guo regularly worked on his home and in the garden, said Doren, who described him as "a really sweet, kind man."
Guo received a master's degree in electrical engineering from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La., in 1992, according to a representative of the school's alumni association.
— Aaron Besecker
Nicole Korczykowski, Nicole Korczykowski, 29, whose parents live in Eden, worked for Barclays Capital, a New York City-area investment firm.
After attending Nichols School, she graduated in 2001 from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, where she had a concentration in finance.
She lived in Manhattan with her boyfriend.
— Aaron Besecker
As the cantor of Williamsville's Temple Beth Am, Susan Wehle found a way to merge three passions — people, music and spirituality.
Inspired by a visit to a seriously ill friend, she recorded a CD called "Songs of Healing and Hope."
Determined to boost grass-roots liturgical involvement, Wehle organized classes for congregants on leading prayer services.
And to honor the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. and the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a civil rights activist, she urged congregants to perform good deeds.
"Her concern for others, her love of the life of the spirit, was infectious," said Irwin A. Tanenbaum, the Temple Beth Am rabbi. "Any who knew Cantor Wehle came under her spell."
Wehle, 55, completed her theological training while raising two sons — Jonah and Jake — and she also had a degree in acting. She performed with theater companies in Buffalo, Chicago and New York, and conducted choirs in the United States, Canada and Israel.
The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Wehle was a cantorial soloist at Temple Sinai in Amherst for nearly 10 years before joining Temple Beth Am in 2002.
In addition to her musical skills, Wehle was noted for blending a sometimes gritty, down-to-earth personality with a soaring sense of religiosity. "She made spirituality joyous," said Judy E. Henn, Beth Am's vice president of worship.
Wehle was returning home from a vacation in Costa Rica when she died in Thursday's plane crash. Her voice was stilled, but her message — expressed in a recent edition of the temple newsletter — lives on.
"May we all work, in whatever way suits us, toward "tikkun olam,' the healing of the world," she said.
— Peter Simon
Rebecca Lynne Shaw grew up in a suburb of Seattle, home of the headquarters for Boeing Co., and decided in her senior year in high school that she wanted to fly.
She was the first officer on the Continental Connection flight that crashed late Thursday. Her voice, communicating with the air traffic controllers at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, was the last sound heard from Flight 3407 before it crashed into a Clarence Center home.
Shaw, 24, had joined Colgan Air in January 2008 and had flown 2,244 hours with the airline. Records show she was certified as a flight instructor. She had been a high school athlete and a camp counselor.
She lived in Maple View, Wash., with her husband, Troy. They had just returned to Maple View from Virginia.
As her husband traveled to Buffalo on Friday, her mother, Lynn Morris, told an Associated Press reporter that her daughter loved to fly.
"We love her and miss her terribly," she said.
— Matthew Spina
Ronald Gonzalez, director of a youth program in New Jersey, was flying home to visit family in the Buffalo area.
Gonzalez formerly led Alianza Latina, a health outreach organization focused on AIDS/HIV in Buffalo's Latino community.
"He lived for his work and for the community," said Dennis R. Pfaffenbach, a member of the the organization's board of directors who worked alongside Gonzalez before joining the board.
Gonzalez, 44, was director of the Youth Services Program based in the New Brunswick, N.J., schools, according to the Star Ledger's Web site.
In a 2005 Buffalo News story about a National Latino AIDS Awareness Day event, Gonzalez described the efforts of Alianza Latina in Buffalo.
"What we are trying to do in the community is prevention work," Gonzalez said that day.
— Aaron Besecker
Outgoing, loving, down to earth: That's how Donald Mossop, his wife, Dawn Mossop, their son, Shawn and Dawn's sister, Ferris Reid, were recalled by a church leader Saturday.
The extended family, who lived together in Bloomfield, N.J., were bound for Toronto, but wanted to save money by flying into Buffalo and then driving a rental car across the border.
"It will be a huge loss," said Brett Jackson, coordinator of the body of elders at Jehovah's Witnesses Congregation in Claremont, N.J., where Donald Mossop was an elder. "Not just because of the things Donald oversaw, but also just the presence of he and his family.
"Warm, vivacious … you knew that when you were around them you were going to enjoy yourself."
Both Mossops and Reid were born in Jamaica before making lives for themselves in New Jersey.
Donald Mossop moved to Claremont as a teenager to live with an uncle after the death of his father. Dawn, a childhood friend, followed five years later to marry him. Several of her family members, including Ferris Reid, followed.
Donald Mossop, 42, worked for Xerox as a technician repairing copying equipment in Manhattan. He loved to tinker around, and repair things for family and friends.
Dawn Mossop, 48, a senior administrative assistant at pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough, is described by Jackson as being "outgoing."
Reid, 44, worked as a traveling nurse and lived with the Mossops in their three-story house with another sister, Venita Reid. Jackson said she could be quiet in public, but quite the opposite around family and friends.
One of Reid's favorite things was to go shopping with her sisters.
Shawn, 12, a sixth grader, was a "very respectful, polite child," Jackson said. He was learning to play guitar.
The family enjoyed traveling, and rarely went to cold climates. They were going to Canada in the wintertime to meet a love interest of another of Dawn's sisters, Jackson said.
The trip was originally scheduled to occur several weeks ago.
— Mark Sommer
Brad S. Green, 53, of East Amherst was a salesman for Kraft Foods, according to former neighbors.
Green and his family were described kind and helpful, the type of people everyone would want living next door, said Dave Braunscheidel, a former neighbor.
Braunscheidel and Green used to help each other with projects around their houses, like working on Green's hot tub and an engine on his son's three-wheeler.
Green, a member of Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church in Clarence, is survived by his wife, Sharon, and two children, Jennifer and Brad Jr.
"Our heart goes out to them," said Braunscheidel, who said he was neighbor to the Greens for about 10 years.
George Regan, another former neighbor, described Green as "very, very well liked."
Regan, 88, said the family used to help him use the Internet to keep in touch with his own son, who traveled around the world.
"Anybody that knew them, they're going to be astounded," Regan said.
Green was one of two Kraft employees on the plane, along with David M. Borner of Pendleton.
"We are devastated by the news and our most heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with our employees' families during this difficult time," the company said in a statement issued to the Tonawanda News. "Kraft Foods also extends its deepest condolences to all families affected by this tragic event."
— Aaron Besecker
Ronald and Linda Davidson of Westfield were on their way home from visiting a relative.
Mrs. Davidson, 61, was a longtime nurse at Westfield Memorial Hospital in Chautauqua County. Mr. Davidson, 66, was a volunteer at the community kitchen at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Westfield.
The couple has three children: two sons, Andrew and Aaron, and a daughter, Carrie, according to Westfield residents who knew them.
Jennifer Neil, 34, was pregnant with her first child.
“She was due at the end of May,” said her mother, Mary Neill. Jennifer lived with her parents in Clarence.
Her fiance, Todd Eacker, a physician’s assistant, was in Florida visiting his sister when the plane went down. The last time he spoke with Neill was while she was at the Newark airport waiting for the plane to depart, her father, James, said.
A pharmaceutical sales representative for Shearing-Plough for the past several years, Jennifer left Wednesday morning for New York City for a business trip and was on her way back home on Flight 3407.
Considering she was expecting, her mother wondered about her making the trip.
“I was kind of surprised [her boss] selected her because she was pregnant,” said Mary Neill, a teacher in Buffalo Public Schools, who found out about the plane crash while on her way to work Friday morning.
She and her husband did not see the news the night before, and when Jennifer didn’t come home Thursday night, they just assumed she was at her fiance’s place.
And because Jennifer always drove herself to the airport, no one was there to meet her.
“The happy part is that she was a very happy and upbeat person,” Mary Neill said.
“She is just a wonderful daughter … She is a very ambitious and a very bright girl,” James said, still speaking of his daughter in the present tense two days after the plane crash.
In addition to her parents and fiance, Jennifer is survived by two brothers, Brendan and Patrick, a major in the Air Force, who was a safety officer and flew commercially at one time, James Neill said.
— Deidre Williams
Darren Tolsma wasn’t supposed to be on Flight 3407. He was booked to fly out of Newark Liberty Airport on a later plane.
“He took an earlier flight because he wanted to be home so he could say good night to his kids,” said Tolsma’s wife, Robin. “That tells you how much he was devoted to them.”
Nikki, 16, and Darren, 19, were the apples of their father’s eye.
“The best way I could say it is he lived his life for his kids. He was so proud of them,” said Robin Tolsma, an English teacher at Lancaster Middle School. “His favorite place to be was at Lancaster High School, watching his kids do anything in track or field hockey.”
Runners wore black armbands in his memory Saturday at a track meet.
One of Darren Tolsma’s favorite things to do was to take late-night walks with his son, which could go on for an hour or more.
“They would talk about college, and all the things they could talk about without mom. My son was so sad thinking he would never have those walks again,” Robin Tolsma said.
Darren Tolsma worked for 25 years as a defense engineer at Northrop Grumman Amherst Systems. His co-workers were his “second family,” his wife said.
He was also proud of their two-story home in Lancaster — especially his manicured lawn.
“He used to Google his own house so he could see how nice it looked from space. He was proud of that lawn,” Robin Tolsma said.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday in Lancaster High School, 1 Forton Drive.
— Mark Sommer
Donna Prisco, a married mother of four from Randolph, N.J., had been a flight attendant for less than a year. She had attended training with Matilda Quintero, a good friend who was also working the flight.
Prisco, 52, had been a stay-at-home mother for 27 years before she fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming a flight attendant, her sister Karen Prisco, of Sparta, told the Star-Ledger. On her first day of work in June, she proudly posed for a photo in her uniform in her living room.
“She wanted to go back to work and do something for herself,” Karen Prisco told the newspaper. “She said, ‘I’d do this job for free.’ She just loved it. She was a people person.”
Prisco’s 24-year-old daughter, Ashley, also works for Colgan Air, the company that operated Flight 3407. Prisco also had three sons, Neil Prisco III, 27; Brett Prisco, 22; and Corey Prisco, 15, and was married to Neil Prisco Jr.
— Associated Press
Retired U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. John J. Fiore saw three wars before retiring to civilian life.
Fiore, 60, a Niagara Falls native, was on Flight 3407 on his way back from a vacation, said a friend, Duane Frost.
“All the sacrifices that he’s done for the country and for this to happen to him and have his life cut short is just mind-boggling,” said Frost, a fellow veteran. “He got cheated.”
Fiore started his military career in Vietnam with the Marines.
He later joined the Air Force Reserves and served as an air transportation manager with the 30th Aerial Port Squadron of the 914th Mission Support Group.
In an August 2006 article in the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station publication “Niagara Frontiersman,” Fiore described the squadron’s work in the war on terror as “making history.”
“The airlift missions we scheduled moved more than 700 officials in support of the first free Iraqi elections since 1953,” Fiore told the 914th Airlift Wing public affairs office in 2006.
Fiore served as an airlift scheduler at the Air Mobility Division, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, during the tour, which began in 2004, according to the “Niagara Frontiersman.”
Fiore lived on Grand Island, Frost said.
He was also an active volunteer at John J. Welch Post 381, American Legion, in Niagara Falls and several other veterans organizations.
— Denise Jewell Gee
Kevin W. Johnston, 52, of East Amherst, was director of safety, health and environment at Henkel Technologies-Americas in Buffalo.
In an in-house message sent Friday, company executives alerted employees about the loss of Johnston, as well as the death of Douglas Wielinski, a former employee who was in the Clarence Center home where Continental Flight 3407 crashed.
“Our sympathies go out to both families and the many friends Kevin and Doug had at Henkel,” they wrote. “This tragedy has affected us all.”
Johnston leaves his wife, Kathleen, and daughters, Melissa, Amanda and Kelsey.
Johnston, a certified safety professional and certified industrial hygienist, was past president of the Western New York Section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. Johnston was formerly the corporate manager of industrial hygiene at Pratt & Lambert.
Henkel closed its operations in Buffalo on Friday in remembrance.
— Aaron Besecker
Johnathan Perry was only 27. But already, he had risen to a position of influence and importance within a New York City investment management firm.
Perry, a resident of New York City, was traveling to Buffalo with his girlfriend, Nicole Korczykowski, to visit with her family in Eden over the long holiday weekend. Perry's death was reported by the New York Daily News on Sunday.
Perry joined W.P. Carey & Co. in 2002, according to a company biography. He rose through the ranks and, in 2008, was named a director at the firm.
Perry's job had him in the air frequently … especially with Atlantic crossings.
The Cincinnati native headed his company's office in Amsterdam, and also ran the company's International Asset Management Group. That meant he oversaw the management of nearly $3 billion in assets around the world, in 13 countries.
Like his girlfriend, Perry graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennslyvania, where he earned a degree in economics. He was a member of the Urban Land Institute, and a licensed broker.
Perry had been in a relationship with Korczykowski for several years, according to friends of the couple who spoke to the Daily News.
"They were definitely in love," one source told the newspaper.
— Charity Vogel
Ernest West, "Ernie" to those who knew him, was used to flying for his job.
West, 54, was deputy director for business development at Northrop Grumman Amherst Systems, a unit of the leading defense contractor. His business trips took him regularly to Europe and Australia.
But he much preferred spending time with his family in their Clarence home on Greiner Road, or having weekly breakfasts at a local restaurant with Summer, his 2-year-old daughter born to wife Jennifer during the October Storm.
West also liked grilling in the backyard, landscaping the house and swimming laps in his pool.
West previously worked 22 years as a marketing manager and systems manager for Sierra Research Corp. in Buffalo. Before that, he was an electronic warfare and ground-directed bombing specialist for the Air Force in the 1970s while stationed in North Dakota, Louisiana, Montana and South Korea.
While in South Korea, he also served six months as a field operative with the Office of Special Investigation looking into South Korea's black market on drugs.
— Mark Sommer
Mary Julia Abraham's co-workers at Invacare Corp. knew her for her outspokenness.
Co-worker and good friend Marc Schwartz remembers Abraham, on more than one occasion, climbing up onto the table at a business meeting to make a point more persuasively.
"That was Mary. She was passionate," Schwartz told The News.
Abraham, 44, had worked at Invacare for about 12 years, most recently as a trainer for the region stretching from Maine to New Jersey.
She worked from her home in West Seneca, where she had moved to be close to her parents, but traveled frequently for her job, Schwartz said.
Schwartz and Abraham were at a Veterans Hospital in East Orange, N.J., last week to help set up a patient with new manual and power wheelchairs.
The patient, a Vietnam veteran, was so smitten with Abraham that he flirted with her throughout the consultation. Abraham, a retired Army Reserve first sergeant, bantered back with him and teased him about being a Marine.
At another point, Abraham and the occupational therapist took out their cell phones to share pictures of their dogs. Abraham was a greyhound rescuer and, Schwartz noted, a member of a women's motorcycle club.
Thursday, before Schwartz took her to Newark Liberty International Airport, they stopped by Junior's in Brooklyn.
Abraham was lactose intolerant, but she told Schwartz, "For the best cheesecake in the world, I'll take a risk."
Schwartz dropped her off at the airport that afternoon, gave her a hug and kiss and said goodbye. He learned the awful news about Flight 3407 the next morning.
"Everybody that knew her, loved her. She had such a strong personality," Schwartz said.
— Stephen T. Watson
Sean Lang, 19, of Montgomeryville, Pa., was flying into Buffalo to visit his girlfriend, according to the Bucks County Courier-Times.
"He was incredibly loved," his brother, Lonnie Cooper, told the newspaper. "He was an incredibly cool guy. All of his friends looked up to him as a leader.
Lang was a student at Penn State University, and had not yet declared a major, his brother told the paper. "He was a huge Penn State fan," who also loved the Philadelphia Eagles and the Phillies, Cooper said. "He was into living life to the fullest," he said.
— Mark Sommer
Shibin Yao, a 37-year-old Chinese national, came to the United States to work in Manhattan in 2007.
Yao was employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers,cq whom she began working for in China in 2004. She was a manager in the company's financial services advisory practice.
Yao's husband, Pan Xiaojun, also works for the company and flew to Buffalo with her parents after learning of her death on Flight 3407.
"She was always warmhearted and willing to help others," said coworker Jene Han, who said Yao - known by her English name Grace - helped her relocate to New York.
— Mark Sommer
Brian Kuklewicz, 41, was devoted to his family.
Kuklewicz was married to his wife, Karen, for 13 years.
Their twin sons, Nicholas and Jacob, turn 9 Wednesday.
"He lived life to the fullest; he just used every minute of every day," said Chris Michalski, Kuklewicz's sister-in-law. "And he loved his family, his wife and his boys, to the fullest extent.
"His life was for his family."
Kuklewicz was born and lived in Cheektowaga, returning there after growing up on Buffalo's East Side and graduating from Seneca Vocational High School.
He worked as an engineer at Burns Cascade in Buffalo and was in New Jersey on a business trip before boarding Flight 3407.
"He told [the family] to wait up for him," Michalski said.
Kuklewicz enjoyed camping and traveling. The family took cruises, and went to Mexico and Disney World.
He was known for a great sense of humor.
"He was absolutely funny. That's how we're getting through this … just by bringing up all the funny things about Brian," Michalski said.
— Mark Sommer
Dawn Monachino typically drove 10 hours round-trip, every two weeks, to be with her mother in Pennsylvania, who was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.
That level of self-sacrifice was indicative of her.
"She was loving, caring and giving," said Michael Monachino, her husband. "She was the one who would remember the tiniest thing that would be important to someone else. That's what she brought to the marriage. She was the center of joy in my life."
Dawn Monachino was from Carbondale, Pa., and graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She taught elementary school in her native state, as well as in South Carolina, before moving to Clarence after marrying in 1995.
Her dogs, a golden retriever named Lady and a chocolate lab named Shadow, were constant companions.
"She cared for them as much as any child," her husband said. "It was her and me and the dogs."
Monachino was a pharmaceutical representative at Schering-Plough Corp., and was coming back from Newark on a business trip along with Jennifer Neill, also of Clarence, who also perished on Flight 3407.
Michael Monachino said his wife and Neill were initially booked on the flight, switched to another flight, but then rebooked on the ill-fated plane ride.
— Mark Sommer
Mary Julia Abraham's co-workers at Invacare Corp. knew her for her outspokenness.
Co-worker and good friend Marc Schwartz remembers Abraham, on more than one occasion, climbing up onto the table at a business meeting to make a point more persuasively.
"That was Mary. She was passionate," Schwartz told The Buffalo News.
Abraham, 44, had worked at Invacare for about 12 years, most recently as a trainer for the region stretching from Maine to New Jersey.
She worked from her home in West Seneca, where she had moved to be close to her parents, but traveled frequently for her job, Schwartz said.
Schwartz and Abraham were at a Veterans Hospital in East Orange, N.J., last week to help set up a patient with new manual and power wheelchairs.
The patient, a Vietnam veteran, was so smitten with Abraham that he flirted with her throughout the consultation. Abraham, a retired Army Reserve first sergeant, bantered back with him and teased him about being a Marine.
At another point, Abraham and the occupational therapist took out their cell phones to share pictures of their dogs. Abraham was a greyhound rescuer and, Schwartz noted, a member of a women's motorcycle club.
Thursday, before Schwartz took her to Newark Liberty International Airport, they stopped by Junior's in Brooklyn.
Abraham was lactose intolerant, but she told Schwartz, "For the best cheesecake in the world, I'll take a risk."
Schwartz dropped her off at the airport that afternoon, gave her a hug and kiss and said goodbye. He learned the awful news about Flight 3407 the next morning.
"Everybody that knew her, loved her. She had such a strong personality," Schwartz said.
— Stephen T. Watson
Nicole Korczykowski, 29, whose parents live in Eden, worked for Barclays Capital, a New York City-area investment firm.
After attending Nichols School, she graduated in 2001 from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, where she had a concentration in finance.
She lived in Manhattan with her boyfriend, Johnathan Perry, who also died aboard Flight 3407.
Perry had been in a relationship with Korczykowski for several years, according to friends of the couple who spoke to the New York Daily News.
"They were definitely in love," one source told the newspaper.
— Aaron Besecker
Shibin Yao, a 37-year-old Chinese national, came to the United States to work in Manhattan in 2007.
Yao was employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers, whom she began working for in China in 2004. She was a manager in the company's financial services advisory practice.
Yao's husband, Pan Xiaojun, also works for the company and flew to Buffalo with her parents after learning of her death on Flight 3407.
— Mark Sommer
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