CeeCee Lyles
From September 11 Memories
CeeCee Lyles was a flight attendant who died aboard United Airlines Flight 93 in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. She is best-known for calling her husband from the plane on a cellular telephone after the hijackers took control of the plane, a call that served as one of the few pieces of good evidence for what went on aboard the plane.
CeeCee Lyles phoned her husband in the last moments of her life to say goodbye. "She called him and let him know how much she loved him and the boys", said her aunt, Mareya Schneider.
Lyles lived in Fort Myers, Florida, with her family but stayed in a shared Newark, New Jersey, apartment when working for United Airlines. Lyles spent over six years as a police officer for the city of Fort Pierce, Florida. She married her husband, who was also a police officer in Fort Pierce, in May 2000. In late 2000 she decided on a career change and started work as a reserve flight attendant.
She is survived by her husband, Lorne Lyles (31), and her sons Jerome Smith (16), Jevon Castrillo (6), Justin Lyles (11), and Jordan Lyles (9), along with her aunt Carrie Ross, who adopted CeeCee at the age of one week old, who raised her and called her a daughter, her aunt Mareya Schnieder, and other family.
In an interview shortly after the attacks Lorne said how he treasured this short conversation: "Just hearing my wife saying she loved us through all that chaos on that plane is just embedded in my heart forever. That's my baby".
He returned to work after half a year of mourning, but a month later, turning in his gun and badge, he resigned from the Fort Myers Police Department, citing personal reasons.
In November, 2003, CeeCee Lyles was memorialized with a life-size statue (work of sculptor Chris Riccardo) at the Fort Pierce, Florida memorial for the heroes and dead of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
See also
Memorial Pages for CeeCee Lyles
External links
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - "Flight crew: CeeCee Lyles" – October 28, 2001
- St. Peterburg Times, Floridian - "A tragic loss; a final gift" – September 10, 2002
- AP (FreeRepublic) - "Statue Unveiled for Flight 93 Hero" – November 26, 2003
