Brendan Dolan

I originally posted this several years ago and since then some of my links are no longer in use, I've deleted them so as not to confuse anyone.  I've left the numbers at the ends of the paragraphs to show that this information came from those other sources though. 


Brendan Dolan
Age 37
Glen Rock, N.J.
World Trade Center, 92nd Floor

These are the basic facts that I have to go from to form a tribute to Brendan. Not much really, how do I go about building a tribute that would be fitting? I will do my best.

A few more basics but at the same time such important facts: He was a loving husband to Stacey Dolan and a doting father to Sarah Danielle and Samantha Nicole.

If I weren't able to find out anything more than that about Brendan it would still be ok because really, that information is the most important. He was a devoted family man that told his older brother Charles, "Forget business, you don't get it yet. Work will never bring you the kind of satisfaction you'll have from a family." (1)

Brendan was the Senior Vice President at Carr Futures on the 92nd floor of the North Tower. On that fateful day they had a meeting that brought in many of their employees that normally would not have been there. They had a total of 68 people in their office two floors below the impact of the plane. They were trapped on their floor unable to get out. They sought refuge on the West side but a raging fire was coming straight for them from the North side. All 68 people were lost. (2)

Brendan played football in school, he was the quarterback. He used those skills when it came to his relationships with family, friends, coworkers and clients. Although according to Brendan he didn't have clients, he only had friends. Now that's some kind of man. (3) I found the following on Newsday.com's website:

(Stacey) recalled her husband as a generous person who had a keen sense of humor. "He had a very awesome presence," she said. "His clients were all his friends. They were very fond of him."

As I mentioned in the post below, I remember so much about that day. One of those things is seeing the people who would rather leap out of the buildings rather than stay in one that's raging with fire. According to one of the sites I went to while researching Brendan, he had to see it first hand. A coworker was on the phone with his wife and she asked him if they could get out. His coworker let her know that they were trapped and they saw people falling by the windows. I felt awful while only seeing it on tv, so awful I had to look away at the very beginning of it. I don't even want to imagine what Brendan and his coworkers had to have felt. Especially for a man as compassionate and so obviously a lover of his fellow man.
Along with Douglas D. Ketchum I will now remember Brendan Dolan. It has warmed my heart every time I see that someone has come to my site through searching for Douglas and it in turn helps me to remember him. I can't wait to have those same feelings for Brendan.
I can only hope this was a fitting enough tribute. I know it really wasn't much for the most part, and I do apologize for that. Please click on all my links to learn more about this wonderful man.

(1) Portraits 9/11/01: The Collected "Portraits of Grief" from The New York Times

Douglas D. Ketcham

I had originally done this post several years ago, I've updated the date to bring it to the forefront.












It's been 5 years but it seems like it just happened. I didn't know anyone that was injured let alone perished but it still affected me deeply.

I remember leaving work to go get my 13" tv to bring back so we could have up to date information since the radio station we were listening to wasn't doing so and the internet was basically locked up. On my way home the south tower fell, I had to pull over, the tears were coming too hard and fast.

I remember finally making it home and my boyfriend was on the couch watching tv but not a channel that had the coverage. He didn't know anything had happened.

I remember explaining to him why I was home, what was going on, as I switched the channel to Peter Jennings.

I remember my legs giving out as the second tower, the North tower, fell. It was worse than the other because this time I saw it happen.

I remember finally being able to get back up to grab the tv and head back to work so the others could see. In hindsight I should have just stayed home with my boyfriend, cradled in his comforting arms but I didn't. I went back to work and my coworkers were very glad that I finally made it back, they were going nuts not knowing what was happening. I can't believe our boss never told us to go home, especially since all we did all day long was sit around my little tv not doing any work.

I remember feeling very deeply for the people who had died in those towers, flight 93, and the Pentagon. I remember feeling very deeply for the families and friends left behind.

I remember every time I see a tv show or a movie that has an image of the towers.

After researching Douglas and learning the few items I have about him I have a small sense of what he was like. Because of this it will help me to remember him by.

I will remember Douglas D. Ketcham.

Douglas was a stockbroker for Cantor Fitzgerald. He was working in the north tower that morning. After the jet hit he called his parents, letting them know he was trying to make his way out.

Thank you to Newsday for the following article. It gives us some of the limited information I could find on Douglas to give us a sense of who he was.

Virginia Native Gave of Himself

Dec. 18, 2001

On the last day of his life, Douglas Ketcham called his parents to let them know he was trying to get out of the north tower of the World Trade Center, where he worked as a stockbroker for Cantor Fitzgerald.

"He called his mother just after [the jet struck the tower] and said there had been a terrible explosion, and to tell them that he loved them," friend John Riley told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "He called from underneath his desk."

That was the last Dennis and Raenell Ketcham heard from their son. None of the Cantor Fitzgerald workers trapped in the upper floors of the tower made it out alive. The north tower was the first hit by a hijacked jetliner.

Ketcham, 27, had worked for Cantor Fitzgerald since his graduation from the University of Virginia in 1996. He grew up in Midlothian, Va., near Richmond, and graduated from Midlothian High School.

"He loved New York," Riley said. "He was very sharp, very bright. He loved to be around people."

Riley told the Times-Dispatch that Ketcham returned to Richmond often to visit his many friends, who in turn came up to see him in New York. Riley said he sent an e-mail about Douglas’ fate to 50 people he counted as friends.

Ketcham’s parents and younger sister Denyse, 21, moved to South Dakota more than two years ago. Denyse remained there to attend the University of South Dakota when her parents retired to Florida earlier this year.

Though they were spread across the continent, the Ketchams chose to return to the Richmond area to hold a memorial service for Douglas. Denyse said the turnout gave her a strong sense of comfort.

"He was undoubtedly the most selfless person I have ever met,” she told The Associated Press. “When we had the memorial service for him, he was eulogized by five people. That was definitely a recurring theme. He was so giving of his time, his energy, personal belongings. Anything."

Family and friends described Ketcham as a giving person with a strong faith in God.
“He was a strong Christian, and he did a lot for underprivileged youth and Christian organizations,” Denyse said. “That’s been one thing that’s really helped us so much through this.”

-- Shannon Shelton (Orlando Sentinel)

He sounds like a wonderful man, someone I would have loved to know and be friends with. Someone you could count on in a crisis such as this. It sounds like he touched many peoples lives and will have a large number of people who will always remember him.

There's another out there that remembers Douglas, it is his friend The Tin Man. Please go there and read what he has to say.

Through researching, trying to find a good photo I found this tribute from his mother.

Please, won't you join me and the others across the globe in remembering Douglas D. Ketcham and the so many additional people who lost their lives that fateful September day. Please go to this site to find the rest of the tributes.