The September 11th attack
Hope turning to despair for families
By Tanya Bricking and Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Staff Writers
Just floors above the Cantor Fitzgerald office where two men with Honolulu connections worked, two other Hawai'i natives may have been in the same restaurant on the north tower's 107th floor when terrorists attacked.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
One week since the World Trade Center twin towers turned to rubble, each Hawai'i family with a loved one missing has tried to hold on to hope that, by some miracle, their relative might be found alive.
A memorial has been set up in front of Punahou School for victims of the terrorist attacks in New York. Two Punahou graduates, Rich Y.C. Lee and Heather Ho, are among those missing.
But with the announcement by New York hospitals yesterday that all of the injured have been identified, optimism is turning to despair.
"Well, we hope, but we know it's not good," said Rose Lee, whose son-in-law, Michael Collins, husband of fashion designer and 1977 Leilehua High School grad Lissa Jean Collins, is missing. "If Michael had survived, if he hadn't gotten his medication within 48 hours, he would have gone into diabetic shock."
Collins usually carried his insulin medication in his pocket, Rose Lee said. Collins worked one floor below Rich Y.C. Lee, a 1986 Punahou School graduate and vice president of Cantor Fitzgerald's E-Speed Internet company.
The Lee family, unrelated on O'ahu, has found a connection through the tragedy.
As Rose Lee and her husband, Henry, prepared to go to the Mainland this week, Kimberly Miyasaki Lee told them what to expect in New York.
Kimberly Miyasaki Lee, sister-in-law of Rich Lee, already has made rounds to hospitals and passed thousands of fliers posted like sad grave markers for the missing.
"At first, it was just a lot of chaotic foot work to do, and there was no transportation, so we had to walk everywhere," she said. "Now, everyone is just physically and emotionally exhausted."
For the family of 26-year-old financial executive Maile Hale, yesterday marked just the beginning of the process.
Hale, a 1993 Kaiser High School graduate who works in Boston, was at the World Trade Center for a conference when the attack occurred.
The "Straight Through Processing" financial conference, which drew about 200 participants, was run by people based in London. One of the conference officials contacted London about 9 a.m. Tuesday to say they were evacuating. That was the last contact from anyone at the conference, said Wendie Wong, a family friend.
Hale's family now assumes she was at Windows on the World restaurant on the north tower's 107th floor, where the conference center was set up, when the hijacked plane hit.
That premier New York restaurant is the same one where 1987 Punahou grad Heather Ho was an award-winning pastry chef. Ho, 32, began her New York career as a pastry assistant at Gramercy Tavern and at Bouley. Friends said she dreamed of owning her own pastry shop.
Her siblings arrived in New York on Sunday to join her boyfriend, Daniel Roorda, to do what they can.
Each family yesterday continued gathering toothbrushes, hair brushes and other items that might help scientists make DNA matches as bodies are recovered.
Hale's older sister, Marilyce, delivered Hale's medical records and other information to officials in New York. A New York fire marshal and friend of the family has been helping them check hospitals.
"They're holding up amazingly well," Wong said of Hale's parents, Rob and Carol. "I think the hardest part was feeling so isolated" from New York.
The Hales were on the first United Airlines flight to Boston's Logan Airport Saturday, Wong said. The Hales told Wong that at the end of the flight the captain told passengers, "Thank you for having the courage to fly today."
Here at home, the 66-member Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunrise will make a contribution in Maile Hale's name. Rob Hale, a member of the Rotary Club of Honolulu, is a board member of the Friends of the Children's Justice Center.
"We put open for discussion about what we could possibly do for (Rob Hale) and his family under such a terrible time for them all," said club board member Rob Hail, who said he had received condolences from people who confused him with Maile Hale's father. "We thought the best thing to do is to have our club members make a contribution to a charitable program that was closest to his heart. We know how philanthropic he is and how much a part of a community he is."
The Rotary Club of Honolulu today will discuss making a donation in Rob Hale's name to the Children's Justice Center, which aids victims of child abuse.
Rich Lee's family said more prayers and support is all they ask.
"We're still hoping," said Ronald "Buddy" Lee, his brother. "It's tough, but we haven't given up."
Reach Tanya Bricking at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8026 and Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
Correction: Marilyce Hale is the older sister of Maile Hale. A previous version of this story incorrectly said Marilyce is Maile's younger sister.
