Huntington Remembers Alumni Lost on 9/11
Seven years after the terrible death and destruction wreaked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, the Huntington school community still mourns the loss of six alumni who perished at the World Trade Center, along with former Huntington students who attended elementary school in the district before heading off to other high schools to complete their scholastic education.
District employees also lost loved ones that dark day, including a husband, brother and the daughter of a retired teacher. Many school district residents also lost their lives.
The lost alumni include Susan Clyne-Dietrich (1977), Dennis Edwards (1984), Michelle Titolo (1985), Michael Desmond McCarthy (1987), Judson Cavalier (1993) and Joe Anchundia (1993). Each of the six left behind grieving families.
Ms. Clyne-Dietrich, a graduate of C.W. Post and Touro Law School never entered a courtroom because she fell in love with computers. She worked on the 96th floor of the Tower One as senior vice-president of Marsh & McLennan, the largest insurance company in the world. She was in charge of global software design. The married mother of three lived in Lindenhurst.
Mr. Edwards, 35, was a partner with bond giant Cantor Fitzgerald, working on the very top of the World Trade Center. He lived in Huntington after marrying his high school sweetheart, Patti, and was the father of a 2 ½ year old daughter. During the 1993 bombing of the WTC he carried a pregnant woman down 80 flights of stairs to safety.
Following her graduation from Huntington High School, Ms. Titolo went on to earn a degree in finance from St. John’s University and later obtained an MBA. She was working as an equity controller for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 101st floor of One World Trade Center, when she was killed in the terrorist attack. She was 34 years old and had just moved into a new home in Copiague.
Mr. McCarthy, who turned 33 years old on Sept. 8, 2001, was an assistant vice-president at Carr Futures, specializing in the London Stock Exchange. He worked the overnight shift, 2 a.m. – 10 a.m., and was slated to leave the World Trade Center shortly after the terrorists struck. The firm was located on the 92nd floor of Tower One, two floors below the impact zone of the plane. All 68 people on the floor, including Mr. McCarthy survived the initial explosion but a raging fire that spread to the west side of the floor prevented anyone from escaping alive.
Following Mr. McCarthy’s death, his family started a scholarship at Huntington High School in his memory. He is buried in St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Huntington.
Mr. Anchundia and Mr. Cavalier, a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, both worked at Sandler O’Neill & Partners near the high reaches of the WTC. The pair was best friends since they attended Flower Hill Elementary School together. They were both 26 years old and just starting to climb the corporate ladder with the investment banking firm. On Sept. 11 they were both on the 104th floor of Tower Two when a plane attacked the building.
“The events of 9/11 are seared into our memories,” Superintendent John J. Finello said. “The Huntington school community will always remember those members of our family that were lost that day.
The eight individual schools that comprise the Huntington School District have annually remembered 9/11 in their own special way, from poetry readings and touching musical tributes to collective moments of silence. “No American who lived through it will ever forget that day,” Mr. Finello said.
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