Patrick Quigley

2996 is a project organized by DC Roe in which bloggers come together, each honoring an individual victim of the 9/11 attacks.

The following is a tribute to 9/11 victim Patrick Quigley; just one of the 65 innocent civilians brutally murdered on flight 175.

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Who is Patrick Quigley?

Via Legacy.com:

Great Brother, Great Friend. Patrick J. Quigley IV lived in 21 places in 40 years, and at school he and his sister, Ruth Quigley-Lawrence, were always in the same grade, though she was 11 months older. "I always knew who I was going to play with on the playground, I always knew who I was eating lunch with," she recalled. "He was the slowest eater."

The siblings had their own version of Korean, different from the one their mother taught them. They ended up together in classes at Rutgers, and she married her brother's roommate and best friend. Mr. Quigley lived with them for a year, when his consulting job brought him to her company, and he took over her desk when she left.

Their older brother, John, said that Patrick chose a few things to do well, and did them very well. " He was just very even, very focused," he said.

Last summer Mr. Quigley, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and his wife, Patricia, bought a house in Wellesley, Mass., to put down roots. Their two children are Rachel, 6, and Leah, who was born in October.

Mr. Quigley was on Flight 175 on Sept. 11." Some people you like and you don't know why — yeah, he was like one of those guys," said his father, Patrick Quigley Jr. "I guess you would've liked him if you met him."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on April 21, 2002.

Via Legacy.com:

Pat and I were teenage and early adult friends who shared a passion for Baseball and good times. I spent many summers with Pat playing baseball for our hometown and traveling around the county for our games.

I also attended high school and college with Pat, then eventually grew apart after college graduation as we each began a new life. Pat was a good friend anda lott of fun to be with. He loved life and was passionate about most things that he pursued.

I will never forget Pat and the many good times we shared. I hope that his family's grief and sorrow will lesson with time knowing that he touch so many people's lives in a positive way.

Ken Cerce (Westampton, NJ)

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Via Legacy.com:

Patti, I still remember walking in downtown Chicago and you and Pat calling out to Gina and I. It seems like yesterday, that we were talking about all of the razzing we were getting about you and your too short for banking shorts and me and my too loud for banking ties.

I know that this has been verydifficultt time for you. Our prayers arecertainlyy with you, seeking strength, comfort, patience and guidance through this storm. If I can ever be of any assistance to you and your family, never hesitate to contact me.

God's Blessing and Comfort,

Raullo Eanes (Naperville, IL )

Family names pet dog in honor of 9/11 victim

Via Petharbor.org:

Patrick's daughter born, one month after death

Via Boston.com:

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff, 9/11/2002

When Leah Quigley, now 11 months old, started making recognizable sounds, her first was ''da da da.'' As normal as that might seem, her relatives and caretakers did not find it the least bit cute. They tried to distract her with mugging and giggling, hoping to make her say something else, anything else. But only after Leah had mastered her da-da-das did she move on, in her own good time, to the ma-ma-mas.

Thirty-four days before Leah's birth, her dad, Patrick J. Quigley IV, woke up early. He got unusually flustered trying to find and iron a clean pair of pants. He kissed his wife, Patti, goodbye. Then he hopped in a limo to make his plane, United Airlines Flight 175. The 40-year-old Wellesley businessman sat in the first row of first class for the last and unknowable chapter of his life.

In the year since hijackers piloted her husband's plane into the World Trade Center, Patti gave birth. She arranged a memorial service, a baptism, and then, when some of Patrick's remains were identified, a funeral. She had her wedding ring stolen. She got her older daughter, Rachel, off training wheels and through kindergarten, a family vacation, and the beginning of first grade. She clung to her own sanity.

In her even-keeled fashion, Patti found the ''da da da'' episode more funny than heartbreaking. ''It's just the sound babies make first,'' she told her worried loved ones.
Yet the episode reminded Patti of the ordeals that are still to come, the kinds of trials that will strike even after a year or two or three of intense mourning.

''When is she going to ask?'' Patti wonders about her baby girl, who doesn't yet realize whom, or how much, she has lost. How will Patti describe the ''da da'' who tried through two years of doctors and tests and anguish to have Leah, the father who was so convinced of Leah's athleticism - from all her kicking in the womb - that he was already planning a basketball hoop for the driveway?

''I don't even know what I'm going to say when that day comes,'' Patti said.

God bless Patrick Quigley, God bless Patrick's family and friends, and God help all of mankind in defeating terrorism and evil throughout the world.