Remembering 9/11 Victims From Toms River 20 Years Later

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Anyone older than 25 in Toms River likely remembers where they were on 9/11.

Americans felt a collective trauma as first one and then another plane flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. As the truth dawned on people watching from their TVs that America was under attack, another plane took aim at the Pentagon. A fourth was brought down in a field in Pennsylvania in a final act of heroism by passengers who realized their flight had been hijacked.

Nearly 3,000 people, including two from Toms River, were killed in the suicide attacks carried out by 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaida.

On the 20th anniversary of the attacks, Toms River remembers and mourns these people who died at the World Trade Center:

• Patricia Mary Fagan
• Robert C. Kennedy

Fagan, 55, was an insurance claims officer at AON Corporation. She loved her Passion Pink lipstick and she was a devout Catholic who prayed the rosary each day, her sister, Eileen, told Patch in 2011. Fagan was a communicant of St. Joseph's in Toms River and a greeter at the Saturday 5 p.m. Mass. She was the kind of person who made friends everywhere she went, Eileen said in her sister's obituary. "Pat talked to everyone," Eileen Fagan said, "and she knew them all by name — the bakery lady, the hairdresser, the saleswoman at Macy's, the girl in the jewelry store in the mall." They all called and wrote after Fagan's death. Eileen said her sister was "technology challenged" but had a beautiful smile and sweet demeanor. She was well-loved by three godchildren, a couple of first cousins, many co-workers and dear friends.

Kennedy, 55, was a senior vice president at Marsh & McLennan. He was a hard worker and a quiet mentor to women and he had a good sense of humor, his wife of 32 years, Maureen, said his obituary. He loved his office on the 100th floor of Tower 1. "He loved the view. He looked out toward Jersey and could see Pennsylvania on a clear day. He could look down on helicopters and could see the ferries crossing from Jersey. It was amazing how much detail you could see from that height," she said. He loved family vacations to the Outer Banks in North Carolina and visits to the casinos in Atlantic City. The final family weekend together celebrating the couple's anniversary was everything, Maureen and her daughters said in a 2011 interview with Patch. "We were so lucky, because we had no animosity, no arguments," Cathy Kennedy Miller said.

All 9/11 victims will be remembered at memorial services planned across the nation on Sept. 11 to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks.

Locally, Ocean County officials have their Day of Remembrance ceremony set for Friday morning. 9/11 Day Of Remembrance Ceremony Set At Ocean County Offices

Toms River will be holding a service at 10 a.m. Saturday at the firefighter memorial across from Toms River Fire Company 1's firehouse on Robbins Street: Toms River Fire Co. 1 Marking 20th Anniversary Of 9/11 Attacks

In addition, Sailfest NJ will open its event Saturday in Island Heights with a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at 10 a.m.

At the 9/11 memorial in Lower Manhattan, New York — an area known for years after the attacks as “Ground Zero” — the names of the fallen will be read aloud.

“Throughout the ceremony, we will observe six moments of silence, acknowledging when each of the World Trade Center towers was struck and fell and the times corresponding to the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of Flight 93,” the 9/11 Memorial & Museum wrote on its website.

The annual “Tribute of Light,” which is lights pointed to the sky in the shape of the Twin Towers, will go on that night.

Most 9/11 victims were from either New York or New Jersey, where many who lived across the Hudson River from the World Trade Center recall the horror of watching the twin towers collapse from their homes in Hoboken and Jersey City.

More than 2,700 people died at the World Trade Center alone on 9/11, including the passengers of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175. Another 184 were killed when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and 44 died on United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

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