His smile was contagious. He didn't brag or boast. His helping hand was a secret known only to those he helped. He led by example.
This is how friends and family described Michael David Ferugio.
Ferugio, an insurance broker with Swett and Crawford on Wall Street, was at a meeting in the offices of Aon Corporation on one of the top floors of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Ferugio, a 1987 Penn State graduate, survived the terrorist bombing at the World Trade Center in 1993. He was out to lunch.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Ferugio was placed on a missing-persons list and was later mistakenly listed as a survivor. Unfortunately, the listing was wrong.
|
A driver's license found in the rubble at Ground Zero is the only object that was recovered from him.
Still, family and friends are confident that the memory of Michael Ferugio, 37, will live on in those who knew him.
Ferugio, a graduate of Pottsville Area High School, is a Schuykill County native who attended both Penn State Schuykill and Penn State University Park.
Those who knew him well insist there was no Penn State football fan quite like Ferugio.
"He was the typical Penn State student with a downtown apartment and so many friends," said Tony Sleva, Ferugio's former brother-in-law and a 1971 Penn State graduate.
"Life in Happy Valley was good to Michael."
Ferugio was active in the Penn State Club in New York City, Sleva said.
He also was a past president of the New York Metropolitan Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Sleva added.
Ferugio so loved the Nittany Lions that when Joe Paterno heard about the loss of this alumnus, he felt compelled to write a letter about Ferugio that was read at his memorial service.
"Mike truly was Penn State proud, and Mike made Penn State proud of him," Paterno said in the letter, which was excerpted in The Penn Stater Magazine.
Ferugio moved to Brooklyn Heights when he took a job at the World Trade Center.
In 1991, he met his wife Susan, a Queens, N.Y., native who worked at the same insurance company.
Later, they took jobs outside the World Trade Center.
The two were married on New Year's Eve 1997.
Ferugio was the son of a steam pipe fitter and the grandson of a coal miner. He never forgot where he came from, and his success did not change his outlook on life, friends said.
The "In Memoriam" section of the January/February issue of The Penn Stater Magazine proved how down-to-earth Ferugio was and his love for Penn State.
Susan Ferugio found an entry in his address book that said, "Ludmilla, cleaning woman, 31st floor-WT2, son is at Penn State!"
On a Web site dedicated to Ferugio, people posted messages remembering him as a great hugger, a loyal friend, an avid sports fan as well as a devoted husband.
"Michael didn't have to be reminded to call his mother, or to hold a door open for an elderly gentleman, or to volunteer his time," Sleva said.
"Michael wasn't perfect, but these things came naturally to him," Sleva added.
Sleva said the most fitting tribute to Ferugio would be to imitate him by treating everyone with respect, love and understanding.
He has made three requests on behalf of his deceased friend.
"When you finish reading, call your mother and tell her you love her. When you see someone in need, help them," he said.
"Before you retire for the night, ask yourself, 'What did I do for my fellow man today?' "
A scholarship in Ferugio's name will be awarded to a male and female graduating senior from the Pottsville Area High School.
