9/11 Victims

Why waste time on TV when you could read or bike or help somebody out? Jean Andrucki did not even own a set. Instead, she played on two Irish women's teams: soccer on one and Gaelic football on the other. She kayaked with her 3-year- old nephew. "She's paddling," said Laura Andrucki-Izzo, her younger sister. "And he's belting out 'Row, row, row your boat.' That says it all about Jean." Her job was doing risk assessment for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. After hours, Ms. Andrucki, 43, was usually either helping to care for developmentally disabled children or elderly neighbors in Hoboken, N.J., or she was jogging or hiking. Her passions were nature and animals ‹ the wildlife of South Africa and Peru, which she visited, and of Hoboken, which she fed. "The squirrels would climb seven floors to her terrace," Ms. Andrucki- Izzo said. "She loved animals and gardens and writing and poetry," she continued. "She had a British heart. But it was more Oscar Wilde than Jane Austen. More a smart, tough American woman with a soft spot." Jean was a true friend. Finding fun was one of her greatest pursuits. She had a great sense of humor. I've always felt refreshed and happy when I was with her. We would sit together in her office, elbow to elbow, and scan the vistas from the windows of her 64th-floor office. We'd chat and whisper like sisters. She was my confidante, with a beautiful sing-song voice and never hesitant to pay a compliment. When I was mourning the death of my father, just a week before September 11, she was the first to make me smile and lift my spirits. She bought me a little plant, which I still have, and even got me to dance an Irish Jig with her on St. Patrick's Day. She broke my depression. That was Jean -- the spirit lifter. You could always learn something from her. She had so much to give. I miss her terribly. She was a walking jewel. My deepest sympathy goes to her family, whom she loved so dearly.