Photo by James Short.
A memorial bench to remember a Class of 1977 classmate who perished in the 9/11 attacks was approved unanimously by the Wissahickon School Board last week.
A memorial bench to remember a Class of 1977 classmate who perished in the 9/11 attacks was approved unanimously by the Wissahickon School Board last week.
At last month’s work session, district Business Administrator Wade Coleman told the board that the district’s director of facilities was working with (Class of 1977 President) Neil F. Trueblood and members of the Class of 1977 group to determine the best donated item for the school.
“(A memorial bench) is what they all decided on,” Coleman said in March. “It will be a very positive receipt when it happens.”
According to a Feb. 20, 2024 letter from Trueblood to the school board, the bench is in memory of Timothy D. Betterly.
It will likely be installed at the front of the high school near the auditorium “or wherever the board believe is the most appropriate for passersby to view,” wrote Trueblood.
The bench will also have an inscription:
“Tim was a 1977 Class member, a friend to many, and an inspiration to all he met. He died in the terror of the NYC attack on the World Trade Center 11 September 2001. To know Tim was to love him.”
So, who was Tim? According to his wife Joanne on an online memorial, Tim worked as a corporate bond broker for Canadian/Yankee Desk at Cantor Fitzgerald and was “kind, loving, caring and most of all funny.”
“Tim had a way of telling a story and finding the humor in any situation. His outgoing personality, his engaging smile, his warmth and laughter were contagious. Tim was passionate about life and his wonderful sense of humor inspired smiles from everyone he interacted with. Tim had the magic to make a day special,” wrote Joanne, who met Tim at Gettysburg College, where he excelled in business and football.
“Tim loved football. He loved to play it, to watch it, and to throw the ball around with the kids. He joined Cantor Fitzgerald 10 years ago,” wrote Joanne on the memorial. “What Tim loved most about his job were the relationships he developed with his customers and co-workers that transcended business into true friendship. Tim was a man of great integrity and compassion. He was never afraid to stand up to an injustice or speak out when a wrong was committed. He had that ability to do and say the things we all thought about but would never have the confidence to do.”
Read further tributes here.
