As has become an annual tradition here on Village 14 here are the names of 17 individuals who died as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that are known to have a Newton connection. If you know of any additional names, please add them to the comments section.
Mark Bavis, a Roslindale native who had recently moved to West Newton, was a hockey star at Catholic Memorial High School. He was on board one of the two planes.
Ruth Clifford McCourt, owned and managed a business that may have been called Clifford Classique in Newton Highlands and/or Beacon Street and lived on Comm Ave in Newton in a big Victorian. This article says her four year old daughter was also on board, the youngest victim that day. She was close friends with Paige Farley-Hackel.
Paige Farley-Hackel, 46, was a member of the Salvation Army Advisory Board, and was trying to get certification as a spiritual instructor. She was on board American Airlines Flight 11, heading to California to speak with radio producers about a radio show on spirituality.
Eric Hartono, originally from Indonesia, was reported to be a student in Newton who was moving to Los Angeles. He was on board United Airlines Flight 175.
Nicholas Humber, 60, a resident of Auburndale. He was one of the first employees of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1971, and was instrumental in starting its waste management division. He was also on American Airlines Flight 11.
Aaron Jacobs died at the World Trade Center at age of 27. A vice president and partner on the international trading desk at Cantor Fitzgerald. His parents, Alice and Laurence Jacobs lived in Waban.
Ariel Louis Jacobs, 29,was a newlywed, an expectant father, executive vice president of U.S. Operations of Caplin Systems, and the brother of Newton-resident Claudia Jacobs when he died in the World Trade Center. His first and only child was born six days after his death.
Danny Lewin, 31, died on board American Airlines Flight 11. He lived in Newtonville with his wife and children. He founded Akamai Technologies, a website management system.
Juliana McCourt, Daughter of Ruth Clifford McCourt. At age four was the youngest victim on the day.
Stuart Meltzer, 32, grew up in Newton Highlands and moved to Long Island not long before his death. He was remembered fondly by teachers and coaches at the Rivers School in Weston. He worked in energy management, with offices in the World Trade Center.
Richard Ross, 58, a resident of Oak Hill. A businessman, he moved to Newton 22 years before, and had run a travel agency and a copy machine sales business before becoming a corporate consultant. He died on board American Airlines Flight 11.
Jean, 55, and Don Peterson, 66, of Spring Lake, N.J. Jean was a retired nurse and nursing teacher, church and community volunteer. Don was a retired president, Continental Electric Co., church and community volunteer. The mother and stepfather of Newton North Principal Jen Price were aboard United Flight 93.
Rahma Salie, 28, and Michael Theodoridis, 32, were expecting their first child when they died aboard American Airlines Flight 11. She worked for an internet security company and he was a technology consultant. Their parents, Haleema and Ysuff Salie, live in West Newton and are part of the Salie family that owns L’Aroma Cafe and Bakery in West Newton.
Clarin Siegel Schwartz, 51, was a tax lawyer and senior vice president at Aon Consulting Inc. in the World Trade Center. She was also a 1967 graduate of Newton South High School.
Amy Toyen, 24, grew up in Avon, Conn., and moved to Newton in 1999. She was planning to get married in 2002. She was on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center at a trade show for her company, Thompson Financial Group.
This is always a sad day for me and many others in Newton. Through different associations I belong to, I knew both Paige Hackel and Aaron Jacobs. Both had warm, generous and principled personalities despite being on radically different professional tracks. Both were snatched from their families and this community before they could make the full contribution to society I’m certain they would otherwise have made.
Thanks to Village 14 for remembering and acknowledging these Newton residents who lost their lives on 9-11. My personal thoughts about that fateful day have evolved over the years. I’ll return to this thread in the next few days to share them. But today is a day to focus on the fallen and honor their memories. May they all rest in peace.
For those who dont know, Danny Lewin invented an algorithm which is the founding principle of about 20% new databases technologies world wide. Amazons shopping scale would not be possible without it.
A great loss…
Thank you Village 14 for remembering. If you are available tomorrow evening the Newton 9/11 memorial committee will host a remembrance ceremony at the memorial. 6:00 Newton center Fire Headquarters. love never dies.
Thanks Virginia: I do plan on attending tomorrow.
Also, I’ve been meaning to check to see if the Newton 9/11 memorial also lists 17 names?
I added Ruth Clifford McCourt and her 4-year-old daughter Juliana for the first time this year, after learning about her for the first time from a Village 14 comment last Sept. 11. If anyone knows of anyone else who are missing, please share in the comments section.
Danny Lewin was an IDF/Mossad agent prior to his role in inventing (patent?) the content delivery network algorithm which powers a lot of what makes the internet as a whole work. Every time you look at a picture, movie, song, other content in a webpage you are using this technology.
He possibly understood what was about to happen (which is terrifying), and lay down his life to stop/thwart it.
Hundreds of stories of Heroes on that day and his still rises toward the top.
Thank you for posting this beautiful tribute, Greg.
I’d like to point out that while Juliana McCourt was indeed the youngest victim from Newton, she was not the youngest victim of the day; that would be 2 1/2-year-old Christine Lee Hanson of Groton, who was aboard United Flight 175 with her parents:
https://www.911memorial.org/blog/new-view-youngest-911-victim’s-stuffed-peter-rabbit
May all their souls rest in peace.
Thank you , Greg. In 2011 we were given the list of only 8 people. I think it is time to revisit this list . If you have anytime to meet with me , Sande and Suzanne, please contact me directly. Perhaps at the end of the month.
thank you, Virginia, Ginny , Gardner
Now that nearly a week has past, I wanted to come back to this thread with some of my thoughts about 9/11. I believe the government lied to the American people about numerous aspects of that horrid day. Whether they lied as part of a larger conspiracy or simply to cover-up responsibility remains a question in my mind. I believe two facts should leave everyone questioning the story they’ve been told about 9-11….
Fact #1: Despite the Pentagon being one of the most secure buildings on Earth with at least 85 exterior video cameras, no footage showing an aircraft hitting the building has ever been publicly released. When a federal judge ordered the government to release video footage of the attack, they released a few frames that show a fireball, but none that shows a plane. I won’t speculate here. People can draw their own conclusions.
Fact #2: No steel frame high rise building in history had ever collapsed from fire prior to 9-11 [or since]. While the impact of jet aircraft may arguably be responsible in part for the collapse of the Twin Towers, I’m referring to an entirely different building. WTC Building 7, a 47 story office building also collapsed on 9-11, although it was not hit by a plane. The building’s tenants included the CIA, IRS, Secret Service, and the NYC Office of Emergency Management. The government claims Building 7 collapsed from fire. I’d encourage people to google “Building 7,” and check out the video footage of its collapse for themselves. Again, draw your own conclusion.
@Mike I believe you have been smoking too much of that marijuana that you love so much. You should really take a break from that stuff and come back to earth with the rest of us.
Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth.
http://www.ae911truth.org
Nooooo….I can’t believe you’re a 9/11 truther!
@MMQC Yes, yes he is….truly disrespectful to the people on Flight 77 and Flight 93 who died while trying to stop another attack. Many of them were speaking to their loved ones while fighting hijackers. I’m sure they were in on your crazy conspiracy too. Wow…that’s all I can say.
The questions I have are shared by many people who lost family members on 9/11. There’s nothing “disrespectful” about questioning the government’s version of the “truth.” I suggest a film called “9-11: Press for Truth,” which focuses on people who lost loved ones and are calling for a new investigation. You can find it on Amazon Prime.
I’d be happy to discuss the two facts I presented about 9-11 in a post above. No publicly released photos or video of a plane hitting the Pentagon, and the collapse of WTC Building 7. I’d be especially happy if anyone challenges the accuracy of those two specific points I made. I’d love to be proven wrong.
@Mike Striar I heard the government faked the moon landing. Any truth to that?