Families remain hopeful

Three current South Brunswick residents and two who recently left the township are among the 5,422 missing.

By: Brian Shappell
   A yellow sign reading "Daddy, we’re waiting for you to come home" at the Ledee residence in Monmouth Junction serves as a chilling reminder of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
   For many, the realization and shock that members of the South Brunswick family are still missing among the ruins of the World Trade Center grows greater every day.
   And, for the family members still waiting in South Brunswick, the hope for a reunion remains strong.
   Three current township residents and two others who recently left the town are among the 5,422 missing. That number includes 300 alone from New Jersey. That number could grow as additional missing person reports are filed.
   The confirmed missing include Kenneth Ledee of Monmouth Junction, Toyena Skinner of Kingston, Mukul Agarwala of Kendall Park and Albert Elmarry, a North Brunswick resident who moved from Dayton less than a month ago.
   Police confirmed that an additional Monmouth Junction man also is among the missing, but his family wished him to remain anonymous.
   The South Brunswick Police Benevolent Association has set up a disaster fund to help the families of anyone injured or killed during the tragedy. People interested in making a contribution to the fund can send a check to PBA 166, Disaster Relief Fund, PO Box 45, Monmouth Junction, N.J. 08852.
   The stories of the missing follow:
Kenneth C. Ledee
   Kenneth C. Ledee, 38, of Monmouth Junction was working on 95th floor of 1 World Trade Center. He was a Lotus Notes administrator in the IT Department of Marsh Inc.
   Mr. Ledee paged to his best friend, Riccardo Llamos, who was in the company’s New Jersey office shortly after the attack.
   "We’re OK. We’re waiting for help," read the message. Minutes later a page, that was apparently cut off prematurely read, "Tell the family…"
   His wife, Mary Ledee, said she believes it may have been a final desperate attempt to tell the family how much he loves them.
   "He wouldn’t have wanted us to find out on the news," Ms. Ledee said.
   Mr. Ledee was a man who lived for the city, born and raised in Queens, where much of his family still resides. She said he loved the fact that he was able to continue working there after their move across the tunnel.
   In fact, he told his wife many times he wanted to stay in New York forever, but broke that resolution about one-and-a-half years ago.
   "He was a New Yorker — born and bred," Ms. Ledee said. "We purchased a house in New Jersey only because I couldn’t adjust to the rat race of the city. He used to say, while we were dating, that he’d never live anywhere else, but he came here because of me and for his daughter."
   Ms. Ledee said her husband had a great sense of humor.
   "He had such a funny laugh," she said. "It was the kind where you make fun of people for it. You just knew it was from the heart."
   Ms. Ledee recalled an evening the couple was hanging out in Queens with Mr. Ledee’s sister and two cousins, watching "The Exorcist." While huddled in the only room in the apartment on a hot summer evening with the air condition, the lovable and clumsy Mr. Ledee joked "knowing me, I wouldn’t have been able to levitate, right."
   One of the things Ms. Ledee said defined her husband was how much he adored their 4-year-old daughter, Oliva, and the time he spent with his only child.
   "He loved watching his daughter in the pool," she said. "They used to play computer games together. He really loved to spend time with his family."
   Though the family has not yet explained to Oliva that her father may not be coming home, she still misses her daddy and undoubtedly is waiting for him to come home. Oliva even helped make the giant yellow sign hanging outside of the family’s resident.
   "We’re just holding on to hope," Ms. Ledee said. "We just want our miracle to walk through the door."
Toyena Skinner
   Toyena Skinner, 27, of Kingston was working on the 47th floor of 1 World Trade Center at First Union Industries.
   Ms. Skinner called her fiancee, Jason Sherman, at 8:53 a.m. to tell him she was all right and was heading out of the building. She called again 10 minutes later and hadn’t moved from her office.
   "She called me back and I was just screaming why aren’t they out of there," Mr. Sherman said. "The last thing she said was I love you. And I told her I loved her."
   Mr. Sherman and Ms. Skinner were saving and planning for a big wedding in the near future.
   The couple actually met at the World Trade Center office when they worked together 16 months ago. Mr. Sherman left the company on Aug. 24 while his fiancee expected to leave the company Sept. 14. Ms. Skinner was leaving the job to watch the couple’s 4-month-old son Matthew Dean Sherman, full time.
   "She was going to come home to stay with the baby," Mr. Sherman said.
   "She is going to come home to stay with the baby," he clarified.
   Ms. Skinner was also a child of the city, growing up in the Bronx, and loved her days in New York, said Mr. Sherman.
   "She was definitely a New Yorker," Mr. Sherman said. "Her biggest thing was the conveniences she had in the city. She loved to be able to get up and go.
   "She was a very outgoing person with a real zest for life, very spiritual and very protective of her son," he continued.
   Mr. Sherman said he and his other son from a previous relationship, 12-year-old Jason, have faith that she will be found.
   "I’m a Christian. I have faith in God," Mr. Sherman said. "Even if I hear the bad news, I’ll continue to pray, for her soul.
   "We miss her and are waiting for her to come home."
Albert Elmarry
   Albert Elmarry, 31, was working on the 103rd floor of 1 World Trade Center. He worked in the Technical Support Department for Cantor Fitzgerald.
   A colleague called her husband and said they were on their way down soon after the first plane hit the building, according to his cousin, Sonya Khalil.
   Mr. Elmarry was a native of Egypt and a 20-year Canadian resident. He moved to Dayton approximately two years ago.
   "He came here for better job opportunities and because he didn’t have family up there. We were all here," said Ms. Khalil.
   Ms. Khalil and his aunt, Ragaa Tanious, both lived in Dayton.
   Mr. Elmarry moved less than one month ago to a new house in North Brunswick with his wife, Irene, who was four months pregnant with the couple’s first child. Ms. Khalil said he was very excited about becoming a father early next year.
   "He was nervous about it," she said. "He moved into a new house and found out he was expecting to be a father on the same day. He had so many dreams."
   Ms. Khalil said the family is trying to ignore what people on the television are saying and focus on the possibility they will see him again.
   "It’s overwhelming right now but we’re still holding out hope," said Ms. Khalil. "I wish everyone would pray for him and any other missing for their families."
Agarwala family members did not wish to speak for publication.