Michael Baksh
September 11 was Michael Baksh's first day on the job as an insurance executive at Marsh & McLennan on the ninety-fourth floor of the south tower. Michael, a 36-year-old Pakistani immigrant, had grown up in the Washington Heights area of New York City.

Michael was an avid music lover who wrote songs and even performed in a band, Sage, in the early nineties. One of the band's songs, "What Color Is a Soul?" was played at Michael's memorial service.

"[Michael] really appreciated his life," remembers his wife, Christina. They met in a geology class at Hunter College in 1985, when Christina introduced herself and asked Michael out for a soda. The two lived with their two young children, Ava and James, in Englewood, New Jersey.

The Baksh family attended the Church of the Advent Hope in Upper Manhattan. Michael was a very involved member and had recently been elected chair of the school board. (Atlantic Union Gleaner, November 2001; "Portraits 9/11/01" from the New York Times)

Steve Bunin
Steve Bunin was in his late 40s. He worked for five years and five months as a systems administrator for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center's north tower. He was a member of the Corona church in Queens, New York, and served as a sound room technician. He was also actively involved in the Family Life Department. Steve will be sadly missed by his wife, Hyacinth, mother, sister, other relatives, and a host of friends. (Atlantic Union Gleaner, November 2001)

LeRoy Homer
LeRoy Homer, 36, was the copilot on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001.

LeRoy, a Plainview, New York, native, graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1987. A C-141 Starlifter pilot at McGuire Air Force Base in Trenton, New Jersey, he was an Air Force reservist who recruited students. LeRoy was also an active participant in the Mount Holly Seventh-day Adventist Church in New Jersey, where his wife, Melodie, attends.

LeRoy and Melodie met through a mutual friend in August 1995, while Melodie was working at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Although LeRoy was living in New Jersey, a relationship ensued. After a long-distance romance that spanned several months, Melodie relocated to New Jersey. Within a few months the two were engaged, and they married a year later in 1998.

While LeRoy was not a member of the Mount Holly Church, he faithfully attended services with Melodie and Laurel (their 1-year-old daughter). "He was very much a part of our church," recalls Melodie. She remembers LeRoy as being even-tempered and soft-spoken, yet not shy. "He had a way of putting people at ease and a good sense of humor. We were always on the go. LeRoy enjoyed picnics, walks in the park, and museums," she says. "We had lots of hopes and plans for Laurel. I will continue to honor his legacy by fulfilling his dreams for our daughter. I can't wait to see him again." (Columbia Union Visitor, December 2001)

Maxima Jean-Pierre
Maxima Jean-Pierre, 40, worked in the 105th floor executive offices of Cantor Fitzgerald in the north tower. Maxima, a food-service administrator, stood only about five feet four and wore a size 2. "She was very small," remembers her husband, Michael Zinkofsky, "but so are hurricanes until they start."

Maxima took special care of the Cantor Fitzgerald executives, bringing them plates of food if she noticed they hadn't eaten all day. She would leave notes with the plate saying, "Please eat this. You might get sick. When I come back, it better be gone." And almost always it was. "They knew who was boss," said husband Michael.

With treatment like this, Maxima won her way into the hearts of many "big shots" at Cantor Fitzgerald. Once when company president Howard W. Lutnick was in London on a video conference, he saw Maxima on the screen walking into the room in New York. Pausing, he said, "Hi, Maxima," and then continued his conversation.

Maxima and husband Michael lived in Bellport, New York, with their six children. Maxima was an active youth Sabbath school teacher in the Spanish Patchogue church in Long Island.
(Atlantic Union Gleaner, November 2001; "Portraits 9/11/01" from the New York Times)

Lizie Martínez-Calderón
Lizie Martínez-Calderón's husband, Marino, still remembers the events of that fateful Tuesday morning. Lizie had woken up early, about 5:50 a.m., and proceeded to the kitchen. The couple's 4-year-old daughter, Naomi, was somehow awake and was following her mother down the hall.

"I said, 'Go back to bed, Naomi. It's too early,'" says Marino, "but she kept going toward her mother." Marino then got out of bed and headed after the little girl. But when Marino found Naomi, she was already gently cradled in her mother's arms; the two were sitting together on the living room sofa. Again he tried to coax Naomi back to bed. "Let her be," Lizie pleaded. "Just leave her with me for a little while."

"I think they were saying their goodbyes," says Marino.

Lizie was an active Pathfinder leader of the Spanish Fort Washington church in Washington Heights, licensed as both a Master Guide and counselor. She also sang in the church choir and was a part of a group trained to assist victims of tragedy.

Along with her husband, Marino, and 4-year-old daughter, Naomi, Lizie leaves behind a son; he was just 20 months old at the time of her death. (Atlantic Union Gleaner, November 2001; "Portraits 9/11/01" from the New York Times)

Ted Moy
Teddington (Ted) Hamm Moy was born in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. He grew up there and helped with the family business-a grocery store.

Ted met his future wife, Madeline, on a student tour to Taiwan in 1975. Ted and Madeline had many things in common, including the fact that both their parents had grown up in the same village-Toi Shan in China's Canton province. The couple married on July 12, 1980, in San Francisco. After several moves, the family located in Ted's boyhood home of Washington, D.C. After 14 years at the U.S. government's Department of Defense, Ted joined the Information Management Systems Department at the Pentagon in November 1999, where he worked until his death.

Ted was an "extremely motivated person" who loved to help others. The father of two (Jessica, 19, and Daniel Ted, 15), he is remembered as a very loving dad. The night before his death, he spoke about the good relationship he shared with his children and the plans he had for their future. Ted, a deacon at the Spencerville church in Maryland, is also remembered as a devoted husband whose weekday routine was to call his wife three times during the day.

Ted and Madeline had been married for 21 years. (Columbia Union Visitor, December 2001; Adventist Review, May 2002 Special Issue)

Michelle Nelson
Michelle Nelson was born on December 7, 1973. She was employed by Cantor Fitzgerald in May 2000 and worked on the 103rd floor of the north tower as a human resources benefits specialist. She was a very active member of the Linden church in Queens, New York, serving as church clerk; assistant treasurer; a member of the new believers, hospitality, and AYS committees; and as a youth deaconess and usher. She will be missed by her mom, sister, uncles, aunt, other relatives, and many friends. (Atlantic Union Gleaner, November 2001)

Valerie Silver-Ellis
Valerie Silver-Ellis, 46, was born on July 4, 1955, at Washington Adventist Hospital. Valerie grew up in the Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church in Takoma Park, Maryland, and attended Sligo School and Takoma Academy. "Valerie was the first girl to be president of the senior class at TA," said her mother and Sligo church member, Joan Silver, proudly. Valerie went on to graduate from the University of Maryland.

Valerie, an equities trader, worked for Cantor Fitzgerald for 20 years, 18 of those at the World Trade Center. She was working on the 104th floor of the north tower on September 11.

"Someone said at her memorial that Val collected people," recalled her husband, Sam Ellis. "She also loved to collect art. We had a place in the Hamptons, and she liked the artists in the area. She loved the beach; she loved her dog Spudley. She also loved the theater, and we'd often entertain clients by taking them to theater and dinner."

Joan, Valerie's mother, remembers her as being a caring person. "We went on vacations together," recalls Joan. "She used to always take me places. Valerie was so concerned about the family; in fact, she got a larger home so there'd be enough room during family gatherings."

Friend and former client Brian Hull said, "You never had to see her to know that she was in a room. You just knew her laugh. She always found a reason to laugh." (Columbia Union Visitor, December 2001; "Portraits 9/11/01" from the New York Times)

Claudia Sutton
Claudia Sutton was born December 15, 1966. She was employed as a certified public accountant for approximately two months by Cantor Fitzgerald and worked on the 101st floor of the north tower. She was a member of the Central Church in Mount Plessent, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and attended the Brooklyn Faith church in Brooklyn. She will be missed by her husband, Bernell; two children, Kadijah (6) and Kyle (3); her mother and father, three sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and a host of relatives and friends. (Atlantic Union Gleaner, November 2001)

Jorge (Josue) Velazquez
According to longtime friend Anthony Salcedo, Jorge Velazquez always had an eye out for the hungry. In the mid-1990s Jorge began a program at his church-the Passaic #I Spanish church in New Jersey-to feed the homeless. He would then look for the needy every day as he traveled home to Spanish Harlem from his job in the shipping department at a shoulder-pad factory.

Jorge and his wife, Consuelo, cooked many large pots of rice, beans, and stew. On Sabbaths they would take this food and their four children to some of Manhattan's lowliest areas to feed the hungry. "I'd ask him where he found these people and he'd say, 'Coming home from work, I saw someone walking around, and I got out of my car and followed them to where they were,'" said Anthony. "[Jorge] was a very determined man."

Jorge, originally from Puerto Rico, began work at the World Trade Center in 1999 as a security guard for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Jorge was soon promoted to security specialist. He was last seen on the thirty-first floor of the south tower, ushering people out of the building.

"Your father is a real hero," the company president told the Velazquez family in a phone conversation.

In his honor, Jorge's family is beginning a program at their church to feed the homeless.
(Atlantic Union Gleaner, November 2001; Portraits 9/11/01 from the New York Times)

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Compiled by Amanda Sauder, a summer intern at the Adventist Review.