O.B. school pays tribute to victims of Sept. 11
Victim’s son: Memorial will serve as reminder of country’s strongest assets
BY LAUREN MATTHEW
Staff Writer

OLD BRIDGE — Little League and basketball coach, caring son, military veteran, amateur chef in the making.

Loving husband, dedicated and supportive father of two sons, a man with great taste in ties, and a proud American.

This is how a son described his father, who was killed on Sept. 11, 2001, to fifth-graders at the McDivitt School on Tuesday, when students dressed in variations of red, white and blue and gathered outside to dedicate a memorial to those who died on Sept. 11.

The memorial, in the form of a modest-size, inscribed stone set in a flower bed, had not been seen by anyone at the school — not even Principal Michael DeSimone — until the afternoon ceremony.

PHOTOSBY SCOTT PILLING staff Above, Bryant Mitchell (l) tells students and guests about his father, who perished during the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers. A McDivitt Elementary School fifth-grader (r) looks at the newly dedicated 9/11 memorial stone Tuesday.

“When you were sitting in your second-grade classrooms on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, little did you realize how much the events of that day would change your life, the lives of people throughout the United States and the direction of our country,” DeSimone told fifth-graders.

Patricia Costello talks about her brother, Chuck, who died offering help to those trapped in the World Trade Center towers.

But, because of 9/11, he said, children have to grow up learning about terrorism and war.

This memorial fosters unity, he said.

A committee of fifth-graders prepared the wording on the stone, DeSimone said. The children’s rhyming lines convey the feelings of loss and pride in the country.

Student Council officers unveiled the memorial stone, as Mayor Jim Phillips, Superintendent of Schools Nicole Okun and guest speakers who lost family members on Sept. 11 looked on.

Nicholas Shevenko and his family donated the stone to the school for the project, after the idea was born in a faculty meeting. From there, the student committee went to work on its inscription.

“I wonder what [Sept. 11] means to you,” Phillips said to the McDivitt students. “And I wonder what you remember.”

The mayor shared some of his thoughts on that day and told students that if they were to ask their parents, they would likely find that a friend or an acquaintance of theirs had been lost that day.

“We may be a large world, but we’re really a small community at heart,” he said.

“I want to commend you, the students of McDivitt school, for your inscription, your words that will live forever,” Okun told listeners.

She urged students not to forget about the day, and the remembrance of those who lost their lives on Sept. 11.

“Each and every one of them is a hero for all of us who are here today,” Okun said.

Patricia Costello told those present that her brother, Chuck, would have loved the dedication.

“Chuck would be totally proud and totally honored to be here today,” she said.

Chuck Costello, an Old Bridge resident and soccer coach, was an elevator construction worker who happened to be passing by the towers on Sept. 11. Though his partner begged him not to, Costello jumped out of their white van to offer help to those inside the towers.

Costello is one of 12 Old Bridge residents who died at the World Trade Center that day.

“He was last seen running toward tower one at 9 a.m.,” his sister said.

“He died the way he lived — caring about other people,” she added.

Bryant Mitchell’s father, Richard Stadelberger, was in one of the towers the morning of Sept. 11.

Stadelberger, a Middletown resident, was vice president of Fiduciary Trust Cos., said Mitchell, whose wife is a kindergarten teacher at McDivitt.

“My father … is only one of the 2,752 people who lost their lives on that tragic day,” he said.

The students at McDivitt, Mitchell said, obviously represent the best and the brightest of what our future has to offer.

“This dedication [will] help turn the memories of a horrific day into a constant reminder of what I believe to be our country’s strongest assets: unending hope, enduring freedom … and its enormous diversity of unified people,” he added.

“We must never forget that Little League coach, loving husband and father, and friend to all whose lives he touched, even for a moment,” Mitchell told students.

As students filed back to their classrooms, they passed the stone, some ran their hands over the words on its surface, or kissed their fingertips and touched the rock.

Costello’s father, Charles, told the fifth-graders that their dedication of the stone was something they should be praised for.

“The heroes here today are all you children who put this whole thing together,” he said. “I think it’s really commendable.”