Co-workers said the quote Michele Nelson kept by her bedside was perfect for her: "Think less of yourself."
Nelson, 27, dreamt of being a pastry chef, a goal she was working toward by going to night school at the New York Restaurant School.
She worked days as a benefits specialist on the 104th floor in the World Trade Center.
"Anything she did, she put her whole heart and spirit into it," Nelson's mother said.
She said this is why Nelson was at her desk early the morning of Sept. 11.
|
A woman of strong faith, Nelson was an active member of the Linden Seventh Day Adventist Church in Laurelton, N.Y., where she sang in the choir and served as a clerk, usher and deaconess.
Nelson, a Penn State alumna, graduated in 1995 with a degree in psychology with an emphasis on industrial/organizational psychology.
She then attended the Baruch College of City University of New York, completing courses in human resource management and employee benefits. She was hired by Cantor Fitzgerald in May 2000.
Her daily philosophy included saying, three times a day, "This is the day the Lord had made, I will rejoice and be glad in it."
Friends and co-workers posted messages to Nelson on a Web site her mother created, all of them remembering her fondly.
Andrea Russin remembers when she went to volunteer at a Bible camp; she called to apologize for being out of the office. Nelson had been making sure Russin and the twins she was pregnant with were covered under Cantor's new insurance carrier.
More than 1,000 relatives and friends attended Michele's Oct. 14 memorial at the church where she spent so much of her time.
A posted message, signed "a Chicago stranger," said, "I can't help but marvel at how wonderful Michele appeared to be inside and out, and her adult life had only just begun."
Nelson graduated posthumously in December from the New York Restaurant School for Pastry Arts.
