2B - The Michigan Daily - Monday, September 17, 2001 I SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 The victims I N.Y. alumni club president unable to escape 86th floor LESLIE WARD/Daily Pat Whalen of Canton Township believes her 23-year-old daughter Merideth, a 2000 University of Michigan graduate who worked in the World Trade Center, was killed in last week's attacks. 'U' graduate worked on tower's 93rd floor By David Enders Daily News Editor NEW YORK - Jill Gartenberg laughs when she remembers how her husband Jim woke her up three Saturdays ago. "He woke up and said, 'Do you know what day it is? It's the start of college football season!' But this weekend, college football was suspended, and Jim Gartenberg, who graduated with an economics degree from the University of Michigan in 1987, is one of the more than 4,900 people still miss- ing this weekend after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers Tuesday. His friends knew him for his love of the University of Michigan. He was the presi- dent of the New York City chapter of the University's alumni association - the largest chapter in the country - for 10 years. "He lived for Michigan football - any- thing Michigan, he loved. He prided him- self on the fact that he went back to Ann Arbor for a game every year," his wife said. "He always said he would be one of those old guys who wore the pants with the M' on them." .Jim Gartenberg worked on the 86th floor of Tower One for Julien J. Studley Inc., a commercial real estate firm. He remained in phone contact with his wife until shortly before she watched the build- ing collapse on television. "He called me at quarter to nine and he called me at my machine at work and said there was a fire at work and he didn't know if he was going to make it," Jill Gartenberg said. "I don't even know if he even knew if it was terrorism." Jill Gartenberg said her husband told her he couldn't escape because the stair- well was full of smoke and debris. Jim Gartenberg also called ABC News and was put on the air live. By Jacquelyn Nixon Daily Staff Reporter CANTON TOWNSHIP - When Patricia Whalen's daughters - 23-year-old Meredith and 21-year-old Kristen - returned to their childhood home for Labor Day weekend, Whalen never anticipated this would be the last time she would see one of them again. "You always think it happens to somebody else," Whalen said yesterday. Meredith, a 2000 Univer- sity of Michigan Business School graduate, worked as a research analyst for Fred Alger Management Inc. on the 93rd floor of World Trade Center Tower One. "She thrived in New York," Whalen said. "Her presence, confidence ... made her able to handle one Merideth Whalen of the firm's biggest clients." Whalen received a call Tuesday morning from Kristen, a student at the University of North Carolina, who alerted her that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. "I saw the antenna and I knew it was her tower," Whalen said. "I was trying to count down how many floors, but there was too much smoke." She was momentarily hopeful, as she believed her daughter began working at 8 a.m. on Mon- days and 9 a.m. the rest of the week. She called Meredith's roommate, Mary Kowalczyk, to confirm what time her daughter had left for work that morning, and Kowalczyk told her 7:30 a.m. Whalen later learned that Meredith's friend on the West Coast received an e-mail from Mered- ith the morning of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The e-mail confirmed that Meredith was at her desk at 8:20 a.m. According to a statement released by Mered- ith's firm, all administrative and sales staff and a small core of research analysts survived. Whalen probably did not survive due to the fact that she was at work prior to her 9:00 a.m. start time. "I was in shock," she said. "You know, she's too young to die." Whalen says she is sure Meredith was killed because the plane entered the building on the "I saw the antenna and I knew it was her tower. I was trying to count down how many floors, but there was too much smoke." - Pat Whalen Mother of woman presumed dead in attack on the World Trade Center floor Meredith worked on and the heat would have been too intense for her to survive. "I would have liked to hug her body," she said. "I don't think I'm going to have anything to bury. I feel gipped ... because she had so much promise." Whalen said Meredith loved the fast-paced interactions with heads of major corporations, saying her boss, David Alger, described Mered- ith as "a rising star." "The CEO of eBay really liked her work," Whalen said. "She never left work at five: She was eager and young." Meredith went out on assignments at estab- lishments such as the Plaza Hotel, where she lis- tened and took notes of speeches given by CEOs. With clients such as Paine Webber and Goldman Sacs frequenting the 93rd floor, and crossing paths with celebrities such as Uma Thnrman and Jerry Seinfeld, Whalen said she could understand Meredith's love for New York. "Her job was so difficult. She had a lot of courage for what she was doing," said Lindsay Calhoun, a New York fashion designer and friend of Merideth's from the University. "She was very confident, very positive and made everyone around her feel very special." Meredith was also enthusiastic about support- ing herself financially. Upon moving to New York, she needed to buy a business wardrobe. "She went out and bought the best - Jones New York suits," Whalen said. During her lifetime, Meredith went on five cruises with her mother, and she had planned to fly to Barcelona last Friday for a 12-day Mediterranean trip with her mother. DAVID KATZ/Daily Jill Gartenberg, with her 2 1/2-year-old daughter Nicole, speaks about her husband, Jim, who worked In the World Trade Center and was still missing as of this weekend. Jim Gartenberg was president of the University of Michigan's alumni association's New York City chapter. "To let loved ones know that they were safe on the 86th floor," Jill Gartenberg said. He was on the floor with one other co-worker, who is also missing. "He was very calm and composed when he called - I didn't hear him on ABC News, but my friends called me and said, 'He's fine, he's fine,' because he sounded so calm." Police asked Jill Gartenberg for her husbands toothbrush to use for the pur- pose of DNA identification. Jill Gartenberg graduated from the Uni- versity in 1989 with a psychology degree, but the two met in New York during an alumni association event. At their wed- ding, they walked down the aisle to the tune of "The Victors." Jim Gartenberg leaves behind a 2 1/2- year-old daughter, Nicole. "I say, 'What do you say when Daddy .watches football?' And she says, 'Go Blue!' He wanted those to be her first words." Jill Gartenberg is pregnant with the couple's second child. She admitted that the reality hasn't sunk in yet that her hus- band is gone. "He was 35. It's way too young to go. He had a lot of life left - he enjoyed every minute of every day." Many from Michigan still missing Son of University of Michigan at Dearborn professor among those unaccounted for DETROIT (AP) - An Army officer from Michigan has been confirmed as killed in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. He is identified as Maj. Kip Taylor, 38, of Marquette. The death toll from Tuesday's attacks was 188 at the Pentagon. In New York, at least 159 bodies have been recovered from the World Trade Center ruins, with 99 identified. The number of missing stood at 4,972. Others with Michigan ties who were killed or are missing in the attacks include: Josh Rosenthal, 43, senior vice president of Fiduciary Trust Co. at the World Trade Center. His mother is University of Michigan- Dearborn sociology professor Marilynn Rosenthal, of Ann Arbor. Terence E. Adderley Jr., 22, an employee of Fred Alger Management Inc., which had offices on the 93rd floor of the World Trade Center's north tower. He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, attended Detroit Country day School and graduated from Vanderbilt University. Son of Terence E. Adderley, president and chief executive officer of Troy-based Kelly Services Inc. David Alger, 57, president of Fred Alger Management Inc., which had offices on the 93rd floor of the World Trade Center's north tower. He lived in Grosse Pointe as a teen-ager and earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of Michigan in 1968. Eric Bennett, about 31, a graduate of Flint's Kearsley High School and Ferris State, was co-captain on the 1988 Kearsley football team and later played for Ferris State University. He was executive vice president of the Alliance Consulting Group and worked on the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center's north tower. Barbara Edwards, 58, of Las Vegas, a passenger on Ameri- can Airlines Flight 77, which hit the Pentagon. Edwards lived in the Grand Rapids suburb of Wyoming as a young girl and gradu- ated from Kelloggsville High School in 1961. Brad Hoorn, 22, an employee of Fred Alger Management Inc., which had offices on the 93rd floor of the World Trade Cen- ter's north tower. Hoorn, a Richland native, graduated from Gull Lake High School in 1997 and from Yale University in May. Margaret Mattic, 51, of Detroit and a graduate of Detroit Cass Tech High School and Wayne State University. She was a customer service representative for a General Telecom, which had an office on the 83rd floor of the World Trade Center's north tower. Robert R. Ploger III, 59, of Annandale, Va., who attended Michigan State University for one year and was son of Major Gen. Robert Ploger of Ann Arbor. He was aboard the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. David Pruim, about 51, of Upper Montclair, N.J., a 1966 graduate of Western Michigan Christian High School. He worked for insurance company Aon Corp. on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center's south tower. His father, James Pruim, was mayor of Muskegon in 1994-96. -1 u 1 I How to help victims and their families American Red Cross: For information on donating blood or money, contact (800) 435-7669. Website: http://www.redcross.org. International Association of Fire Fighters: Taking donations for families of firefighters killed or injured in rescue efforts in New York City. Checks made out to "The New York Fire 911 Relief Fund," can be mailed to IAFF General Secretary-Treasurer's Office, Attn: New York Fire 911 Relief Fund, 1750 New York Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C., 20006-5395. Website: http://www.iaff.org. Meijer Inc.: Meijer stores are a collection site for donations to the American Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund. All stores will accept cash donations. Website: http://www.meier.com. New York Relief Fund: The state of New York has set up a relief fund for victims. Call 800-801-8092. Donations also can be mailed to the New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund, P.O. Box 5028, Albany, N.Y., 12205. Website: http://www.state.ny.us. United Way: Donations to the September 11th Fund can be sent to United Way of New York City, 2 Park Ave., New York, N.Y., 10016, or call (212) 251-4035. Website: http://national.unitedway.org. 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