Services start as grieving goes on

List of Princeton area victims grows to 16 in aftermath of terrorist attacks.

By: Jennifer Potash
   With the national headlines turning toward America’s response, along with more details of the Sept. 11 terrorist incidents at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and outside Pittsburgh, the number of known local victims of the hijacked jet attacks on the World Trade Center in Manhattan continued to grow this week.
   As of Thursday, there were 16 residents of the Princeton area who were missing or presumed dead. Here are more of their stories:
Tu-Anh Pham
   Tu-Anh Pham, 42, of Princeton Township did not accept being told she couldn’t achieve her goals.
   As a chemical engineer at Dow Chemical Corp., Ms. Pham expressed an interest during a performance review by a superior to move into marketing, her husband, Thomas Knobel, recalled this week.
   "He told her she didn’t look like a Dow marketing person," he said.
   First she thought of suing the company, her husband said. Then Ms. Pham considered applying to law schools.
   "It appealed to her ideals of opposing injustice," he said.
   Soon after, she applied and was accepted by the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
   "She found that finance was her thing and what a great opportunity it was," he said.
   In May, she went to work at Fred Alger Management, an investment company on the 93rd floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center. She recently left work on a six-week maternity leave.
   She returned to work Sept. 10.
   The couple has a 7-week-old daughter, Vivienne.
   "We tried to have a baby for six, seven years," he said. "She really is a miracle."
   Thrilled over her new daughter, Ms. Pham also was excited to go back to work, where she recently received promotions, Mr. Knobel said.
   Mr. Knobel last heard from his wife Tuesday morning, when she called from a cellphone from the World Trade Center. He said he couldn’t elaborate about the call.
   From the first time he met Ms. Pham at Dow Chemical, Mr. Knobel said he was very impressed with her drive, ambition and confidence.
   She emigrated from Vietnam with her parents and two siblings during the fall of Saigon. Ms. Pham graduated from high school in Tulsa, Okla. after speaking English for only two years, he said. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in chemical engineering.
   A petite woman, "92 pounds of flesh and bone," according to her husband, Ms. Pham enjoyed the outdoors and skiing.
   After several years of living in hotels and apartments around the globe due to various consulting jobs, the couple settled into their Princeton Township residence seven years ago.
   "Living in Princeton was the first time we felt we had a home," he said.
   Friends from Princeton and all over the world have called to express their concern and offer support, he said.
   Vivienne was to be enrolled in the Princeton Montessori school next year, but the school immediately offered a place for her now, said Mr. Knobel.
   "(The Princeton Montessori School) just opened their hearts up to us, quite remarkably," he said.
   A retired scientist turned novelist, Mr. Knobel planned before his daughter’s birth to be the stay-at-home parent.
   A memorial service for Ms. Pham will be scheduled for a later date.
John J. Ryan
   John J. Ryan of West Windsor thought about taking a day off Sept. 11 from his job at Keefe, Bruyett & Woods, Inc. in Manhattan.
   He unselfishly reconsidered.
   "That Tuesday morning he lay in bed and thought about taking a personal day," his wife Patty said. "He concluded that he would save it for the following week to see his son’s first football game even though he really wanted to stay home that Tuesday. But that was just like J.R. He always put the kids and me first."
   Mr. Ryan, 45, leaves behind his wife and three children, Laura, 16, and 14-year-old twins Colin and Kristen. The family has established a trust fund for the children. (For more information, see Mr. Ryan’s obituary in this edition.)
   He was working on the 86th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center when disaster struck.
   "I spoke to John at 9:15 a.m. from a cellphone on Tuesday morning and he had confirmed a plane crash into tower one and that there was an explosion in his. He told me he would call back in an hour and that he loved the kids and me. I never heard from him again," said Ms. Ryan in a written statement.
   Ms. Ryan said her husband loved teaching his kids and other youngsters.
   "There wasn’t a season that went by when you didn’t see J.R. on some ball field or court, as it was his joy to teach kids — his own or anyone’s," she said. "When you had John Ryan as your coach, you really learned the game and wanted to improve — just ask any of his kids or their parents. The first thing my son said after his dad was missing was ‘Mom, who’ll teach me?’ J.R. not only taught sports but just about everything. He’d hold court after dinner and answer his kids’ every question. His presence permeates every part of our home."
   Ms. Ryan said Mr. Ryan "could build or fix almost anything," loved golf and had just played the best round of his life, played the drums and loved The Who and was an avid reader and a history buff.
Jeffrey L. Fox
   Jeffrey L. Fox, 40, of Kinglet Drive in Plainsboro, was working Sept. 11 for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods as the chief financial officer in its investment banking division on the 89th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center.
   Mr. Fox’s twin 13-year-old daughters, Amanda and Jessica, held a bake sale this Tuesday on Scotts Corner Road to raise money for the American Red Cross.
   Neighbors Kristina Shemming, Alicia Wezel and Anthony Brooks, all 13 years old, helped out.
   Holding patriotic signs that said "Help the American Red Cross," the group sold cookies and brownies, raising $361. The Fox twins plan to take the money to a Sovereign Bank because the bank is doubling contributions to the Red Cross.
   "It felt good to be out there doing something good for our country after what happened," said Amanda. "It was not a good week, but being out there made you feel good — that you are making a difference. We’re proud of ourselves."
   In addition to the twins, Mr. Fox leaves behind his wife, Nancy, and 8-year-old son Gregory.
Robert P. Devitt Jr.
   Robert P. Devitt Jr., 36, of Plainsboro, was working at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 102nd floor of the north tower. He was confirmed missing this week by a representative of Edelman Public Relations, Cantor Fitzgerald’s public relations firm.
Jeffrey Chairnoff
   Jeffrey Chairnoff, 41, of Marion Drive in West Windsor, was working for Sandler O’Neill & Partners on the 104th floor of the south tower. He was confirmed missing this week by a representative of the firm. A person answering the phone at the Chairnoff home declined comment.
Staff Writer Gwen Runkle contributed to this story.