Among those who did not survive were Hotel Montana staff and family, the six Lynn University students and 2 faculty members, four men attending an aviation conference, an engineer, a filmmaker, a social change activist, UN workers, mission workers, etc.
These are the stories of those who did not make it out alive.
HOTEL MONTANA STAFF/FAMILY
Fred Mompoint was a bartender at Hotel Montana. Loved ones and former guests describe Fred as always smiling, extremely helpful and "just a wonderful guy."
Nicolas Cornet
aged 28
For about a day and a half, loved ones were optimistic about seeing Sarah Lauture, 28, come out alive from the wreckage of the Montana Hotel, where as many as 300 people were reportedly trapped.
Rescuers, who believed an employee named Sarah was speaking to them from somewhere inside the rubble, worked around the clock while Sarah's mother, Joelle Benoit, watched and waited.
``Sarah was banquet manager for the Montana. She worked and lived on the premises,'' said her cousin Joelle Maximilien-Miller of Plantation.
Three days after the quake, rescuers finally pulled out the woman they thought was Sarah. It wasn't. It was Sarla Chand, 65, a physician from New Jersey.
``Her mother had been walking around calling Sarah's name. This other person responded. Sarah and Sarla sound similar,'' said Sarah's cousin.. ``I can't even imagine what that would be like, hollering for your daughter and trying to stay out of the way of the workers. And thinking that she was alive in there. And then it turns out to be someone else.''
Sarah, who received a master's degree in hotel management in France and worked at Brickell Avenue's Conrad Hotel from 2006-2008 before taking the job at the Montana,
Aile Stefanson
aged 7
Aile Stefanson was the 7 year old who was visiting with his family his grandparents who own Hotel Montana. Sadly Aile did not survive.
UN STAFF/FAMILY
Daniel and Mateo Varese (Columbian and Guatamalan_
aged 31 and 3
Marylinda spent weeks at the site digging through rubble trying to find her family. When their bodies were recovered she provided the Guatamalan government with a photo copy of Daniel's passport that had his finger print in it. Mateo had no passport and the only identifiable mark on his little body was a nail impairment.
Their bodies were released to the Dominican Republic where Marylinda struggled to have their bodies officially identified and released.. She was told she needed 5 different DNA samples for Daniel Daniel's family live in Columbia so this was extremely difficult.
Having worked for the UN one would think the UN would have been able to be of assistance to Marylinda, but they weren't.
Finally she was able to have Daniel identified but is still having difficulty with Mateo's identification so they have not yet been released by Guatamalan officials.
Daniel and Mateo are survived by their wife and mother, as well as extended families in Guatamala and Columbia.
Mirna Patricia Rodas Arreola (Guatemala)
Administrative Assistant /UN
aged 44
aged 50
Maria is described as a "was a woman of great character, we all wanted". She always helped people with great affection, with great effort, a lot rested in it. Maria was a very enterprising woman with a history of very important work activities. When she died she was starting a consulting firm.
Few marriages are as happy as theirs. She and her husband met 34 years ago and shared a happy marriage.
Maria had been in Haiti over Christmas and into the new year visiting her husband who was stationed there. They had plans of leaving Haiti on Jan.13th to take a vacation. Unfortunately this happened.
Her body was found four feet deep in the collapsed building in the area of the gym.
Cecilia Corneo (Italy)
aged 39
Her husband Patrick was in another wing of the building and managed to miraculously escape by jumping out the window of an office. Although wounded in both legs,he remained in Haiti for news of his wife.
Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System Conference
aged 48
aged 49
aged 57
aged 55
Gregory McAlpin, director of flight safety Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA). . Mc Alpin would have celebrated his 49th birthday on January 28. Mr. McAlpin was unmarried without children. Greg's body was recovered and identified on Feb. 22, 2010.
Search-and-recovery personnel found near his body, his driver’s permit and jewelry.
In response to the news, the chairman, board of directors, management and staff of LIAT (1974) Ltd sent a statement.'Both of these officials at all times exemplified the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and dedication to the ideals of aviation safety and security, and their passing represents a tremendous loss to the civil aviation community in the Eastern Caribbean,’ the airline said.
Siegfried Francisco, 57, director of the Directorate of Civil Aviation Netherlands Antilles.
Auxencio (Angelo) Isenia was found at the crumbled Hotel Montana in Haiti on .Feb. 2, 2010.Mr. Isenia, 55, was the safety airworthiness inspector at the Directorate of Civil Aviation Netherlands Antilles. He was one of four delegates attending a Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System board meeting and was booked at the Hotel Montana when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit on January 12. Angelo was airworthiness safety inspector at the Directorate of Civil Aviation Netherlands Antilles.
“The men were part of a delegation of 18 Caricom aviation officials. Director General of the T&T Civil Aviation Authority Ramesh Lutchmedial survived the earthquake. He was also booked at the hotel with the missing men. Lutchmedial, who posted a comment on the page on Monday, had said he dreamt his colleagues were found
LandTek
aged 50
aged 45
Jim Birch (50) started working as an independent contractor with New York-based LandTek in April, because the recession dried up work for his business renovating and building golf courses. LandTek was talking with the Haitian government about building schools and sports complexes. Mr.Birch filled in at the last moment on the business trip with three colleagues.He had been in the country's capital city of Port-au-Prince for about three hours when the magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Jan. 12, leveling his hotel .Mr.Birch filled in at the last moment on the business trip with three colleagues. Jim's body was identified on Feb. 10th, 2010 using dental records.
David Apperson (45), from Adel,GA was Adel Steel President was on a business trip with his father in law and owner of Adel Steel, John Scarboro.Dave is survived by his wife, Lori, five children and seven grandchildren.
Joe Guercia (71), described as "one of a kind" by friends, was working with LandTek and had been in Haiti with his son in law,David Apperson, Jim Birch and John Scarboro.
LandTek was talking with the Haitian government about building schools and sports complexes.
One colleague, John Scarboro of Georgia, escaped from the rubble. But Scarboro's son-in-law Dave Apperson, LandTek employees Joe Guercia and Birch did not.Lynn University "Journey of Hope" Students and Faculty
aged 59
Lynn University statement:
"With compassion, care and a deep commitment to helping others, Dr. Bruno became one of Lynn's most respected and effective professors. Able to impart his love of learning to his students, Dr. Bruno challenged each and every student to discover their potential and pursue their goals and personal aspirations. Beyond his considerable contributions to students' academic achievements, Dr. Bruno's greatest contributions to the Lynn community lie in his leadership as an advocate for human dignity, social justice and international cooperation. The consummate global citizen, Dr. Bruno committed his life professionally and personally to the service of others and to promoting a more just, equitable, and peaceful world. We will miss him terribly."
aged
His body was recovered Feb. 12th.
Lynn University state,emt:
"As a colleague and educator, Dr. Hartwick garnered the respect of faculty and students for his uncompromising commitment to making a difference in the lives of students and educational institutions. An advocate for excellence in education, Dr. Hartwick dedicated his considerable talents to ensuring that every student had the opportunity to reach their potential as students and citizens. He believed in the power of education to eradicate ignorance and promote justice and his life's work is clearly a testimony to his professional and personal commitments. He was a dear friend and I will miss him terribly."
Her friend Erin Outlaw memorialized her as "She talked really loud and didn’t care what people thought about her. She was the most high-spirited, fun-loving person I’ve ever met, she captured everyone’s attention. There was never a dull moment when Courtney was around! Whether it was going on road trips, singing at the top of our lungs to Barbie girl, spending fun weekends at Elton’s condo, going to Wal-mart on a boring Friday night in Douglas and buying the most random things, or sitting around talking all night, she always knew how to put a smile on my face.Our first perm, which was the worst idea she ever had. It ruined both of our hair! Breaking down in her BMW, that thing lasted her forever. I will never forget these memories. They will always be so dear to me.
Lynn University statement:
"The news we received this evening was not the news we ever wanted to hear. Courtney Hayes was an inspiration in life, and in death will be remembered for her giving spirit, warm smile and so much more. Our prayers are with the Hayes family this evening, as well as with Matt, the Sears family, and all of Courtney's loved ones and admirers here in Boca Raton, in Georgia, and around the world."
Lynn University statement:
"We are devastated to have lost Christine- a young woman who was a bright light in the life of her family, her friends, classmates and teachers. Our thoughts and prayers are with John and Jean, J.P., and the rest of the Gianacaci family, as well as Christine's friends and the many other people who were touched by her life."
Lynn University statement:
"I am deeply saddened to learn about the loss of Stephanie. She had a real passion for serving others. Upon returning home from the Journey for Hope trip in Jamaica in January 2009, she began collecting sneakers and sports equipment to send back to the island-
-this after meeting orphans there who played soccer without shoes or equipment. This was the type of young lady she was--one who sought out need and then, when she found it, tried to remedy it. We are so proud to have known her. Our thoughts and prayers are with Lin, Lenny, Nicholas, Mike and all of Stephanie's friends and loved ones during this difficult time."
This is a recovered letter Stephanie once wrote to a friend, signed “Your Angel.
"There are moments in life where you miss someone SO much that you just want to pick them from your dreams & hug them for real! When the door of happiness closes another opens; but oftentimes we look so long at the closed door we don't see the one, which has been opened for us. Don't go for LOOKS, they can DECEIVE. Don't go for WEALTH; even that FADES AWAY. Go for someone who makes you smile because it only takes a smile to make a dark day seem bright.Find the one that makes your heart smile. Dream what you want to dream. Go where you want to go, be what you want to be because you have only one life & one chance to do all the things you want to do. May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human & enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always depend on a forgotten past; you can't move forward in life until you let go of your past failures & heartaches. When you were born, you were crying & everyone around you was smiling. LIVE YOUR LIFE so at the end, you are the one smiling & everyone around you is crying. Babbes.. don't change a bit . I love you for who you are now. I know we can do this...we've been through too much don't let yourself down...I'll see you in no time...mwahh babbby. Don't tel me down 7-17-07 I love you. Love, your Angel"
Britney Gengel
Lynn University statement:
"While at Lynn, Britney triumphed academically and socially and was a true inspiration to the Lynn community and the community at large. She was a beautiful young woman who gave her life serving others. We will miss her terribly. Our thoughts and prayers are with Cherylann, Len, Bernie, Richie and the rest of the Gengel family, as well as Britney's friends and loved ones during this difficult time."
Roger Gosselin (Canadian)
aged 78
Jean-Pierre (Haitian)
aged 37
aged 35
Walt Ratterman (American)
1952-2010
Walt grew up in Towson, MD and married his high school sweetheart from Towson Catholic High School and briefly attended Johns Hopkins.
Walter J. Ratterman, a solar electricity expert who installed photovoltaic systems in some of the world's poorest and most isolated communities, has died as a result of the collapse of a hotel in the Jan. 12 Haiti earthquake. He was 57.
For weeks after the devastating earthquake, Mr. Ratterman's family and friends shared their hopes and prayers with legions of others around the country and the world through Facebook postings while they awaited word on his fate.
Mr. Ratterman and a friend, Herbert Kanzki, were among those trapped in the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince when its roof collapsed. Their deaths were confirmed last week.
Mr. Ratterman, who studied electrical engineering and construction in college, traveled to more than 30 countries while working on solar power and other renewable-energy projects for several organizations, including a nonprofit group that he co-founded called SunEnergy Power International.
He also worked on a number of projects with the Solar Electric Light Fund, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that has helped to electrify poor rural communities in many nations, including Haiti.
"Walt Ratterman is about the toughest person I have ever known," said Robert Frehling, executive director of SELF, while the search was continuing for Mr. Ratterman, Mr. Kanzki and the many other victims of the disaster in Haiti.
In a tribute later posted on SELF's website, Mr. Frehling said: "Walt was a true solar maestro. For him, there was no problem that was too big to take on, or environment that was too intimidating to operate in. But what I loved most about Walt was his indefatigable spirit, his mountain of compassion, and his relentless drive to make the world a better place by teaching the poor and disadvantaged how to tap into and draw sustenance from the boundless energy of the sun."
Mr. Ratterman, who was born in Louisville, Ky., in 1952, studied electrical engineering while attending Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in electrical construction in 1974. He worked for the Howard P. Foley Co., a major U.S. electrical company, from 1971 to 1985, when he founded TRC Electrical Construction Inc. in Maryland, one of the first approved solar installation companies in the Maryland and Pennsylvania area.
A resident of Washougal, Wash., and a master electrician with licenses in several states, Mr. Ratterman worked on a wide range of commercial electricity projects in his career.
But he also had another calling.
As part of a group called Knightsbridge International, he participated in many humanitarian aid projects around the world. A month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, Mr. Ratterman traveled to Afghanistan on the first of four trips there and helped deliver medical supplies, food and clothing to refugees fleeing areas controlled by the Taliban.
He traveled repeatedly in recent years, often to politically tenuous regions, while working on projects to bring solar photovoltaic installations to populations that lacked access to electricity.
In an interview with a newsletter for the PBS television show Independent Lens, Mr. Ratterman said that the most rewarding projects were those that involved improving people's lives by using renewable energy to provide better access to health care.
In Haiti, he had recently helped the Solar Electric Light Fund install a 10-kilowatt solar PV array at a remote medical clinic in the country's central highlands. Almost all of Haiti's interior lacks grid electricity, and Mr. Ratterman was among those working with the Haitian people to begin providing solar power to impoverished villages.
As rescuers sifted day and night through the hotel's rubble, many people wrote in to a Facebook page titled "Walt Ratterman – Haiti Mission" to offer encouragement to his family and friends and to express admiration for the work he had done.
In a recent Facebook posting shared with the public, Mr. Ratterman's wife, Jeanne, said, "Walt was about partnering and networking, getting so many like-minded folks to share their strengths and resources to help the most people they can in the best way they can.
"It is not about the glory but the humanitarianism that is needed in the world, the service we can truly be to others in need. … I am glad his life inspires others."
The family requests donations, as a lasting tribute, be sent to www.sunepi.org to continue Walt's vision of solar energy in developing countries, www.kbi.org to help the Knightsbridge International Relief Missions, or www.solarenergy.org to help fund young technicians from developing countries to study solar technology at Solar Energy International.
A touchinng article about Walt's Memorial can be found at http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/feb/21/he-was-a-one-of-a-kind-guy-a-real-superman-ive-nev/
63 years old
Herbert Kanzki was in Haiti working with Walter Ratterman. He worked for Green Energy Solutions.
46 years old
Anne Chabot and Ann Labelle from Quebec Canada had been on Air Canada Flight 950 from Montreal to Port au Prince.Flight 950 left Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport at 9:50 in the morning on Jan.12, the last direct commercial flight from Canada to Haiti that day. On board were 195 passengers.They just arrived at Hotel Montana and were registering at the desk when the quake hit.
Anne Chabot ,a 46-year-old Montrealer who worked for the Quebec government, was found Tuesday, January 26th in the rubble of the Hotel Montana.
She was in Haiti to work on setting up an Internet portal for the Haitian government.
Ann Labelle worked for the Canadian government for 35 years, specializing in designing websites to the Ministry of Government Services. She visited the country with the desire to transmit his passion for information technology to the Haitian people.
"It is a gesture of great generosity and dedication",said Premier Jean Charest via press release. The government has also offered its condolences to her husband, Alain Régimbal, and her two children, Gabrielle and Francis.
Katie Hadley was a 30 year old engineer from Ottawa, ON who arrived in Haiti on Air Canada Flight 950 just two hours before the earthquake.
She had sent an email to her employer, Franz Environmental, from the Montana Hotel in Port-au-Prince, where she was staying an hour before the earthquake struck.
Ms. Hadley, who friends describe as athletic and energetic, was in Haiti to do environmental assessment work for a government agency. It was to be a routine business trip and she was supposed to return to Ottawa on Friday.
Hadley loved to bike and swim; she moved to Ottawa to study engineering and lived there ever since. Friends and family are holding out hope to hear from Hadley, and have started a Facebook page, Help Find Katie, to get the word out.
Katie Hadley's body was recovered on Tuesday, January 26th, was identified and repatriated to Canada.
35 years old
Brendan Beck, an engineer doing consulting work in Haiti, checked into the hotel for a night to catch a flight to another part of the country the next day.
His mother is angry that she's not getting information from the government; U.S. officials say they're doing what they can under difficult conditions.
"Given that most Americans do not register with the embassy ... it is often impossible to say in these situations how many are missing," State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said.
"As for sharing information, we can always do a better job. ... I think we have been sharing the information we have, but many times it is just not enough to be of help to families in anguish."
(January 20, 1944 – January 12, 2010)
The remains of former Liberal MP Serge Marcil were recovered in Haiti, ending a cruel 10-day wait in which his family was wrongly informed he had survived the earthquake.
Mr. Marcil's wife, Christiane Pelchat, learned yesterday that his body had been found, just two hours after she arrived in Port-au-Prince to look for him.
“He was here by choice, by love for this endearing people,” Ms. Pelchat said in a communiqué released this afternoon that confirmed his death.
“His soul left along with those of tens of thousands of Haitians. This nation that we love is devastated. I cry for all those who loved him and who died with him. My thoughts are with them.”
Mr. Marcil, 64, was in Port-au-Prince on a business trip, as a representative for the Montreal engineering firm SM International, where he was a vice-president.
He was one of at least 11 Canadians missing at the site of the Hotel Montana, an upscale facility in the Pétionville heights that collapsed, trapping scores of foreign travellers.
At one point, his family was mistakenly told he was alive.
Two days after the quake, they had received an e-mail from a United Nations staffer saying that he was one of a group of survivors who were injured but alive and were being airlifted to Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital.
By the time the UN realized it was a mistake, Ms. Pelchat had already flown to Florida, only to discover that her husband wasn't there.
The family was later told of rumours that he might have been unconscious but removed to a hospital in the Dominican Republic.
His body was eventually found under “tonnes of rubble,” a sign that death was instantaneous, Ms. Pelchat said in her statement Saturday.
Mr. Marcil was a Liberal MP from 2000 to 2004. He had also been a provincial labour minister under Quebec premier Daniel Johnson. Ms. Pelchat, also a former member of Quebec's legislature, is the president of the provincial women's group, the Conseil du statut de la femme.On January 23, his wife confirmed that Marcil's body had been found in the rubble of the Hôtel Montana. He had died instantly, on the fifth floor of the hotel
Rev. Clinton Rabb (American)
Rev. Clinton Rabb,an executive with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, died from injuries sustained at Hotel Montana. He went to Haiti to discuss projects to improve life in the impoverished island nation. "Clint Rabb was a tough and fearless advocate for the least and most vulnerable of God's children," said Bishop Joel N. Martinez, the interim general secretary (CEO) of Global Ministries. "He traveled the world encouraging volunteer ministry in his service on behalf of Christ and the church. He gave his life for others and we celebrate his faithful witness." Mr Rabb was from Texas and has a wife and eight children.
.
Boucif Belhachemi was booked to stay at the Hotel Karibe, according to his daughter, Meryem. A chauffer took him there from the airport, but it turned out to be full. The 61-year-old, a Montreal engineering consultant with the World Bank, was then taken to the Montana, Meryem says. Five weeks later, his body had still not been found. The Karibe, meanwhile, suffered minimal damage.
aged 37
Lt. Col. Kenneth Bourland - USAF of Birmingham, Ala., was the Caribbean desk officer for the U.S. Southern Command, visiting Haiti Jan. 12 for an official meeting with Haitian defense and security counterparts.
Bourland was in his room at the Hotel Montana when the earthquake struck at 4:52 p.m. Jan. 12. His remains were found at the Hotel Montana Feb. 7, after more than three weeks of search and rescue efforts.
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, deputy commander of SOUTHCOM and commanding general of the Joint Task Force - Haiti, led a group of his peers and comrades in a memorial service, paying tribute to the fallen airman.
Bourland's wife Peggy visited the site of the Hotel Montana, met with Keen and asked him to not return home without her husband, Keen said.
Bourland, who graduated from Huffman High School and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, had arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, the day the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck. His widow, Peggy, has said he was with an Air Force team that helps prepare countries for assistance. She received an e-mail from her husband at about 4:51 p.m. The earthquake struck two minutes later.
Bourland was a pilot in the Air Force. He had served in Iraq, and helped in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Lt. Col. Bourland leaves behind his wife, Peggy, and three children.
Alexandre Bitton (Canadian)
aged 36
Alexandre Bitton from Pierrefonds, Quebec, a father who worked in the computer business, arrived at the Montana Hotel moments before the quake struck on Jan. 12.
Mr. Bitton had just checked into the Montana Hotel minutes before the quake flattened the five-storey, five-star hotel on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. His boss, Martin Turgeon, was outside at the pool bar waiting for Bitton when the earthquake struck. He was not injured He returned to Canada a few days later. Turgeon, president of ADNM International, a company that provides business and information solutions, was in Haiti with Bitton to finalize the installation of accounting software and training staff of the Caribbean Grain Company.
Mr. Bitton had not wanted to travel to Haiti.
He leaves behind his wife and son, parents and extended family in Quebec.
aged 34
Chrystel Cancel from France "This little woman" as her mother called it when reading a text very moving farewell, had a very atypical course, that could only make us feel a great admiration. Since her departure of Scotland, where she lived until the late teens, her life has been a great journey, was working hard to serve the lowest. Who would have imagined this fragile little Escossaise from Panama to Washington, from Brazil to Jordan, via Asia or London? A lifetime of hard to get educated and finally help the poor. But this journey was suddenly interrupted when the terrible disaster which took place January 12 in Port-au-Prince, ten days just before her thirty-fifth birthday. As family, we also wish to pay tribute to her American boyfriend Eric who immediately left his ties and his career at the drama to rush to the aid of Chrystel, to find her and bring her back to her family We also believe that parents Chrystel, Daniele and Francis, his brother Lilian, her father-Christophe and his family to Scotland; in Pamiers and elsewhere, all our thoughts are with them in this terrible ordeal they go through.
. Chrystel was recovered 30 days after the earthquake struck.Unrecognizable, the young woman has been identified through DNA testing by the medical examiners. They also established that the young woman had died instantly.
David was a devout Christian who loved children. He created a CD for children called Cranium Ark. He had a wonderful sense of humour and was loved by many.
David leaves his wife, Renee and two young adopted sons.
Diane Caves (American)
aged 31
Her husband Jeff Caves has posted messages on Twitter and on Facebook, along with her photo, saying, "I am looking for my wife Diane Caves. Probably at the hotel during the earthquake. Picture attached," and "Diane Caves, DOB 9-19-78, blond hair, blue eyes, probably in Room 220 at time of earthquake."
Caves is referring to the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, which was severely damaged.
"She's such a strong person, both physically and mentally, and she's so determined," said Caves' friend and co-worker Anita McLees. "If anyone can get through this difficult situation, it's Diane. So I remain hopeful."
McLees and another friend and co-worker, Ann O'Connor, described Caves as a passionate and enthusiastic person who always wears a smile. A confirmed foodie, Diane also loves traveling, works out frequently and belongs to a knitting group, they said.
"Diane really loves life," O'Connor said. "The same excitement and commitment she shows at work is also there in her personal life. She's very focused on living life to its fullest."
"She was extremely excited about the trip and had been looking forward to it," O'Connor said.
On Tuesday, Caves left the American Embassy in the Haitian capital about 3:30 p.m. About an hour later, she spoke to her husband, using Skype from the Hotel Montana, where she was staying. The earthquake struck just before 5 p..
Her body was recovered in the rubble of Hotel Montana, a popular place for Americans that was flattened in the earthquake.
Jeff Caves, her husband, and Diane Caves’ parents released a statement: “We are all grateful for the extensive outpouring of prayers, phone calls, e-mails and cards of support and encouragement received over the past four weeks from friends, family, co-workers and the general public. Diane made a difference in the world and will be missed by all who knew her.”
CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden wrote in an e-mail to employees, “Diane’s reasons for going to Haiti were characteristic of her deep commitment to helping others. Her sharp intellect, optimism and adventurous spirit touched all who met her.”
both aged 65
Travelling from their home in Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse, near Quebec City, the couple arrived in Haiti around 2.30 p.m. Some people from their flight were already settled into the Hotel Montana when the quake struck at 5 p.m., but others had yet to arrive.Ms. Tremblay a former high school teacher, and Chamberland, both loved Haiti.
"They were just very excited to go back,” says Brassard. “They lived there for seven or eight years in the 80s and 90s. Claude was working on rebuilding parts of the slum area, Cite du Soleil. They still had contacts and friends and ties there. It was always one of their favourite places where they had lived and worked.” Their bodies were recovered in the rubble of Hotel Montana.
Leroy (Lee) Strickland (American)
aged 46
Leroy (Lee) Strickland, of Fla was at Hotel Montana when the earthquake struck.
François Guillaume, executive director of the Haitian American Chamber of Commerce of Florida, was at the hotel with Leroy Strickland of Orlando, an American business colleague, 10 minutes before the earthquake struck. Guillaume left to find some medicine for a headache. When he got back, "the top of the building was on the floor." Lee was not to be seen.
He was staying at the Hotel Montana and told her he was about to go to dinner with colleagues.Strickland’s colleagues are all fine, but two of them stayed to look for him. They've emailed that they're not leaving Haiti without Lee.
Friends of Lee Strickland's family fought their feelings of helplessness by posting his photograph on websites to make sure searchers and others in the quake-rattled island nation know who he is and what he looks like. .“We're devastated. The waiting is just agonizing,” said Jeannette Rodriguez, Strickland's co-worker.The colleagues who are standing by him there have emailed that 40 different voices had been heard through the rubble of the Hotel Montana, where he was staying. It was taking an average of three hours to rescue each survivor from the rubble.
Strickland is a longtime employee of PBS&J engineering firm in Orlando. The company has hired an independent contractor to search for him and is in touch with the hospitals in Dominican Republic, where victims pulled from the Hotel Montana are being treated.“We're holding onto the fact we know Lee and his personality he's a go-getter and, if anyone has the ability to survive something like this, we believe he does,” Executive Pastor Mark Armstrong told Eyewitness News.Strickland also teaches Sunday school at First Baptist Church of Winter Park.
His wife is a volunteer there.Armstrong said church members are trying to help her and their daughter stay strong, but as time passes it's becoming more difficult.“As time goes on, our hearts are heavy and our people really don't know what to do. Certainly, they're praying,” he said.
Co-workers and friends describe the husband and father as a very physically-fit man and a natural leader.“I could just picture him, the transportation planner that he is, organizing chaos and telling people what to do and to get a hold of themselves and everything will be fine. I'm sure he's got that all under control,” Rodriguez said.
Mr. Strickland's body was recovered in the rubble of Hotel Montana. He is survived by his wife, Jean, and eleven-year-old daughter, Kailey.
Lee's website is at http://orlandogalloway.com/Bios%20Lee.html
aged 2
Christoph Mark Rouven Redeker Kopp of Germany was having dinner in the hotel terrace (Hotel Montana) with a colleague and a client. The colleague and client have been found and are fine. Christoph died when the roof of Hotel Montana collapsed.
a
aged 40
Grand Master Trân Triêu Quân (Canadian)
Trân was born in Vietnam, and began his study of Taekwondo when he was twelve years old. He emigrated to Canada in 1970, studying engineering at Laval University and establishing the first Taekwondo schools in eastern Canada.
Apart from his Taekwondo activity, Trân operated Norbati Consultants Trân & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in building standards and project management for the construction sector.
In 1994, Trân was imprisoned in Vietnam after a one-million-dollar sale of cotton to a Vietnamese state company, which he had brokered, fell through.[1] He spent three years in prison before being released.
Trân was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on business (ironically, working on improving building standards to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes), staying in the Hôtel Montana when the hotel collapsed in a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2009 His remains were found and his death was confirmed on February 12.
Trân was married to Nguyen Thi My. He had two daughters and a son, Joliette, Cecilia and Nicolas, all whom were holders of black belts in Taekwondo. Upon his disappearance, ITF Senior Vice-President and Grand Master Pablo Trajtenberg was named Acting President of ITF
aged 40
Richard Proteau, an engineer from Quebec an employee of the firm AECOM Tecsul. . A sad irony of fate, would also be the last of Richard Proteau after several trips abroad, notably in Congo and Lebanon.
"He was retiring, but he finally agreed to go to Haiti for starting a project. We thought we would finally be able to spend time with him. It was his last journey. "
Few were aware that his sister, a polarizing figure who lives in exile, had flown in with a search-and-rescue team to look for Mr. Bennett in the rubble of the Montana Hotel, where he had gone to fix an espresso machine leased from his food company. He wasrecovered and identified.
Dr. Frank Vaughters, who works in Kansas City's urban core as well as in a children's clinic in Kansas City, Kansas, operated the clinic in Cite Soleil in Haiti, where he offered birth control and other services to women who otherwise could not afford it, according to his fiance, Marge Therio.
"He figures in the last four years they're prevented 7,000 pregnancies, and the women are so thankful," said Therio. "So many women voluntarily came up and said how much they appreciated getting the birth control."
Therio says that her fiance also helps feed starving children in the impoverished country.
"Most of the kids who are born there die before they're five and he has a nutrition project for the children," said Therio.
Therio says that she last heard from her fiance shortly before the quake hit on Tuesday.
"My aunt in Seattle said someone saw him at the Hotel Montana about 15 minutes before it collapsed," said Bauer Vaughters. "We don't know 100 percent, but unless he went out, he was most likely in the building."
Bauer said his family in Aiken had not realized his uncle was in Haiti until they heard from Lucy Vaughters, the sister of Frank and Ray.
Frank is the founder of the Project for Family Planning and Aid for Children (PFFAE) in the community of Cite Soleil in Haiti. The organization had focused on birth control to women and on providing child malnutrition services.
"My uncle was always active and busy," Bauer said. "He would go down to Haiti a week or two at a time. When this happened, he was doing what he loved."
Lucy told KSHB-TV in Kansas City that her brother had fallen in love with the people of Haiti and decided he wanted make a commitment to help them.
"He just loved their frankness, their exuberance and that they were so down to earth," she said. "The thing about my brother was that, although he was truly a brilliant man (and) had an incredible intellect, he was always very unpretentious and very humble."
According to the PFFAE website, Cite Soleil has 400,000 impoverished people in an area of only one square mile. With incomes virtually nonexistent, malnutrition resulted in one child in two dying before the age of five.
Before PPFAE arrived in 2006, there were no birth control services in Cite Soleil to alleviate the ever-increasing population.
"It is a gift of inestimable value, certain to make life far better in the years to come," the website stated. "In addition, through its malnutrition project, PPFAE provides aid to the malnourished children our mothers already have."
I extend my deepest condolences to all families who lost loved ones during this horrendous tragedy.
ReplyDelete