September 8, 2006

Remembering Ronald Tartaro

I remember everything about September 11, 2001. Our baby was just five months old and we were visiting relatives in western Pennsylvania, not far from the site of the plane crash in Shanksville, PA. When we turned the TV on and saw the horror of what was going on; I remember thinking that my life would never be the same. I remember crying and wondering how we would even get home. At least we were all able to go home. I remember the ticker going across the screen on CNN that began listing more and more names of those who had perished. It was so sad. I remember recognizing one of the names as someone I had gone to college with; but most of the names were just that. . . names. So many names.

Ronald Tartaro was one of those names and would not ever see home again. Ronald was 39 years old, an Executive VP for Fred Alger Management, which was located on the 93rd floor of the World Trade Center North Tower. Ronald Tartaro and his wife, Karen met at a party where she beat him at Trivial Pursuit. They were married in 1993. Karen had worked at Fred Alger Management and helped Ronald to get a job there as well. She left shortly after they were married to raise their family. They had three children together: two daughters and a son. Karen describes her husband as being "the most honest person she knows." She also said that he was "logical" and "reasonable" and that "he always did the thing that made the most sense."

Ronald was a first generation American, born of Croatian immigrants, and was the "star of the family." His family says that from a young age he was already making plans for his future. He had big plans for himself and from a young age was a happy person and sweet to others.

He loved the water and spent time as a child fishing and learning how to sail. He graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in 1983 and followed it a year later with an M.S. He was an immediate success in the financial district and continued to move up through the years. He was in the process of building a larger house on several acres in NJ for him and his family.

One of the family’s great loves was getting outdoors and cycling. Ronald and Karen started off riding a tandem bicycle together and from what I’ve read about them, were as in sync on the bicycle as they were in their marriage. With the addition of their girls, they added a bike trailer; and when their son arrived, he took over the trailer and their eldest daughter rode a bicycle attached to her Mommy’s.

Ronald Tartaro’s other great love was sailing and his dream was to buy a sail boat and sail around the world. He wanted his family and friends to accompany him on different legs of the trip. His wife says that he almost had his sailboat funded.

I’d like to think of Ronald Tartaro as having that sailboat he wanted so much in life. I’m going to think of him as sailing above us all, watching over his wife, his daughters, his son, his sister, and his parents, patiently waiting until he can finally take them on a trip around the heavens.

Special thanks to The New York Times, CNN, The Columbia Spectator, and Newsweek who were all great sources of information about Ronald Tartaro. To read the other tributes that are part of the 2996, go here.