The September 11th attack
Family honors fallen matriarch
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Staff Writer
For all of Georgine Corrigan's expertise in creating and finding things of beauty, her daughter said it was people that Corrigan treasured the most.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
Corrigan, 56, of Hawai'i Kai, died Tuesday when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field. It was one of four flights hijacked by terrorists that day.
Daughter Laura Brough, her fiance, Bryan Buck, and children Dylan, left, and Evan were among Georgine Corrigan's treasures. Corrigan died Tuesday when the plane she was on crashed into a Pennsylvania field.
"She was always going out of her way to help others," 31-year-old daughter Laura Brough said at a press conference yesterday.
Corrigan had been returning from the East Coast after helping her brother run a Massachusetts antique show and shopping for antiques.
United Airlines has offered to fly the family to the crash site to help with the grieving process, but Brough said she doesn't feel safe to fly yet. "I'm personally terrified that if something happened, I would leave my children motherless. It will take some time to get over that (fear of flying)."
The family is trying to send 45 lei to the crash site in time for a memorial service tomorrow as a tribute to the victims. But because of a cargo ban for some airlines, the lei are still at the florist.
Brough said the family will hold a memorial service when the rest of the family arrives in Hawai'i.
Corrigan moved to Honolulu in 1976 from Toledo, Ohio, to work as a Bank of Hawai'i teller. She later got into the textile industry, managed a Liberty House beauty salon, and became a collectibles dealer/craftmaker with the help of her brother, Kevin Marisay.
Pausing at times to gain her composure, Brough recalled how her mother collected anything associated with roses because Rose was Corrigan's middle name.
During the press conference, Corrigan's 4-year-old grandson, Dylan, dangled a gold medallion from his neck, a plastic-engraved red rose in the center.
"I guess that's why I wore a dress today with giant red roses, and rose earrings," Brough said. "I'm not sure what to make of her big rose necklace, but it will be my lucky charm now."
Corrigan recently lived with Brough, Brough's fiance, Bryan Buck, and their two sons, Evan, 6, and Dylan. Family photos revealed a beaming grandmother sitting with her grandsons.
"I'm just thankful we had the opportunity to live together with her the past three years," Buck said. "I wouldn't trade those times for anything now."
A memorial fund has been set up in Corrigan's name to assist the family. Donations and correspondence can be sent to Laura Brough, P.O. Box 25643, Honolulu, HI 96825.
