9/11 Victims

Janice Ashley was a modern-day Renaissance woman: literary, artistic, and skilled in finance, as comfortable on Rollerblades as ordering a meal in a fancy restaurant. She was also outspoken and bubbly, someone who kept her friends from elementary school but relished new experiences, like a trip to Turkey in August. "She marched to her own tune," said Richard Gallo, a friend she had dated for over five years. "She wouldn't have chicken or beef when she went out to eat ‹ she'd order the antelope steak or ostrich burger." In a letter of condolence to the Ashley family, another friend recalled how Ms. Ashley was their only high school classmate to compliment her unconventional Sweet 16 party, at a Manhattan comedy club. "She just got things," Risa Lewak said. "There was nothing phony about her." Ms. Ashley, 25, lived with her mother, father, and 18-year-old brother in Rockville Centre, N.Y., and worked as a research associate at Fred Alger Management. She returned home tired from 12-hour days but found time to talk about her dreams, like eventually opening a florist gift shop, said Carol Ashley, her mother. She misses her daughter the most in the evenings. "She just sparkled," Mrs. Ashley said. I knew Janice for about two years before the tragic events of September 11, and she is sorely missed. I will miss her smiles and her vibrant personality. She really lit up a room whenever she came in. I will miss her infectious smile, and her witty sense of humor, but most importantly I will miss her friendship. With each day that goes by I miss her more because she was too young to die. And a blank space remains in my heart because she truly was a friend. -Katy Brown, friend