Community leader’s spirit
recalled as tree is lighted
Donna Giordano, president of LaMer, was lost
Donna Giordano, who lived in Sayreville, with Gary Frank (l), who also was killed Sept. 11, and Anthony Scamerdela (r) in a picture taken in New York at a benefit for homeless people earlier this year.
in Sept. 11 attacks
By jennifer dome
Staff Writer
SAYREVILLE — On a chilly, windy night last week, a group of residents of LaMer at Sayreville could be found gathered around an evergreen outside the home of someone they all knew and came to love.
Struggling to keep their candles lighted, the group had more success in lighting and dedicating the tree in front of the former home of Donna Giordano, their condominium association president, who died Sept. 11 while working at the World Trade Center.
The tree glowed brightly in red, white and blue outside Giordano’s home at LaMer Section IIc, where her son Michael still resides.
"The warmth of the tree is from her heart," one resident said at the Dec. 20 dedication. "The brightness reminds us of when she walked into a room."
Giordano, who was 44, worked on the 100th floor of the south tower as an insurance broker for Aon Corp., her sister, Elaine Barrett of Rahway, said.
Both Barrett and Michael also worked in the World Trade Center for Aon Corp. on the 92nd floor. Michael, 19, had come home from college in North Carolina, and began working for the company only one week prior to the attack, Barrett said.
Later, Barrett said she learned from another worker in the building that Giordano tried to flee the building by getting into an express elevator during the attack. However, the elevator’s cable is believed to have been broken when the plane crashed into the building, Barrett said.
At first, Barrett and Michael did not even think Giordano had arrived at work by the time of the attacks, as she was known to arrive shortly after 9 a.m. most mornings. Her family later learned that she had decided to go into the city early that day to beat the traffic traditionally experienced during a primary election, such as the one scheduled in New York Sept. 11.
Barrett, who had recently taken the job with Aon Corp., remembers that she was speaking with a co-worker about the hassles of the commute when the plane hit her building.
"I saw this huge ball of fire heading toward the window and I thought that was it," Barrett said. "I remember saying in my mind that my life is over."
She and Giordano’s son were able to make it out of the building; however, they returned home late that night to learn her sister had not been heard from.
Over the next few weeks, Barrett’s husband, Michael, and Giordano’s boyfriend, Al Totka of Woodbridge, searched the hospitals for information on her whereabouts. They brought pictures and displayed them wherever they could, Barrett said.
Eventually the family, forced to accept the tragedy, held a memorial service Nov. 4.
For Barrett, the hardest things to deal with since Giordano was lost are the facts that she left her son behind and that she will also miss seeing her new nephew grow up. Barrett recently adopted a young boy, Nicholas, whom Giordano loved very much.
"She was always asking when she was going to be an aunt," Barrett said.
One of Barrett’s favorite memories about Giordano’s affable spirit is a story about Giordano and Michael taking an aimless drive one day. They ended up near Jon Bon Jovi’s home in Monmouth County, Barrett said. Giordano, who was an avid fan of the rock singer, jokingly told Michael she should throw herself in the water so that Bon Jovi could save her.
Though she was a single mother, Giordano, who was originally from Bloomfield, spent much of her free time volunteering for the LaMer community.
According to Lynn Pesano, regional manager for executive property management at the LaMer Community Center, Giordano was one of the first two residents of the development, and she served as board president for the LaMer Condominium Association. Giordano was very concerned with her role in the association, according to Pesano, and was well known as someone who went out of her way to listen to residents’ concerns and discuss their problems.
"She was a very selfless person," said one resident at last week’s dedication.
Many residents at the dedication described Giordano as sweet and as someone who was friendly to everyone. They also spoke of her love for her dog, Charlie, a Shetland sheepdog. One man recalled how he would wave to her each morning as she strolled by his house at 6 a.m. walking the dog. Another resident added that she was encouraged to get a dog of her own after seeing the bond between Giordano and Charlie.
One thing they all recalled fondly was her sense of humor.
"We want to hear her laugh," a resident told Barrett.
Pesano said she remembers that even if Giordano called to complain about something that needed to be taken care of in the community, she would always make sure to thank Pesano for the work.
"She always said, ‘I love you,’ when she hung up the phone," Pesano said, adding that, as a result of Giordano’s example, she has been reminded of how important it is to thank people and let them know you care.
The characteristics many residents spoke of at the dedication were evident in many things Giordano did, Barrett said. A few weeks prior to Sept. 11, Giordano was busy planning a benefit for the homeless. Through her commute from Sayreville each morning, Giordano had begun friendships with two other travelers. One of the friends, Anthony Scamerdela, who worked with J.P. Morgan at the World Trade Center, joined with Giordano to host the benefit at a New York restaurant called Suspenders, Barrett said. The event raised more than $2,500 in addition to clothing that was collected, Barrett said.
"Anthony’s been a godsend to our family," Barrett said. Scamerdela is the only surviving member of the trio of friends from the commute, Barrett said. The other commuter, Gary Frank, was also among the victims of the attack.
Since Sept. 11, Barrett has taken time off from Aon Corp., which has offices located internationally, and now operates out of a temporary office in New York City, she said. Giordano’s son, Michael, stayed with Barrett for some time after the tragedy, but is now living back at home in LaMer, she said. He has decided to go back to college, likely at a local school, Barrett said. Although he was always interested in taking criminal justice courses prior to Sept. 11, Barrett said her nephew’s focus is now to become an agent with the FBI.
"Now he has a strong feeling of wanting to go into that field," Barrett said.