Deborah Welsh
From September 11 Memories
Deborah Jacobs Welsh was a United Airlines flight attendant. She lived in Hell's Kitchen in New York with her husband, Patrick, and her Dalmatian. Welsh had been a flight attendant for over twenty-five years and had worked for United Airlines for the last four years. Before that she had worked at other airlines including the defunct Eastern Airlines and Kiwi Airlines. She was a member of the choir at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York.
Patrick Welsh, who lived with Deborah on Manhattan's West Side, knows his wife was terrified when the hijackers commandeered Flight 93. "Like anybody would be", he said.
"I know in that horrible takeover, she stepped up. The flag was on the ground and she picked it up and so did the others on the plane", he voiced.
Authorities believe passengers may have attempted to wrest control of the aircraft from the hijackers. Had it not crashed in Pennsylvania, Flight 93 might well have been steered into a national landmark, like the jetliners which crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Patrick Welsh said his wife was not shy about expressing herself and would have said, "what the terrorists thought was a triumphant battle cry from Allah was actually a pathetic whimper of cowardice."
"She wouldn't want a knee-jerk reaction or vigilantism, and I know she would want that expressed," he said.
The couple had spent the evening before the fatal flight at a New York comedy club. "We loved to laugh", he said.
And laughter, it seems, will become Deborah Welsh's legacy.
"When she walked into a room, the party started," said Coral Mary Southam, a friend from Los Angeles.
He said she would want people "to get back to going to movies, to buying hot dogs or a CD".
"But in the big picture, she'd want us to make sure the planes keep going. She loved this industry".
Welsh died at age 49 in the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. She was not regularly scheduled to fly this route and had swapped shifts with a co-worker.
Welsh is survived by her husband, Patrick.
Tributes
When I was based at EWR I flew with Debbie often. We were around the same seniority so we would end up on alot of the same trips. We flew together for an entire month one time and we got to know each other pretty well. What can I say. Debbie is an unforgetable person. Just seeing her would make you light up. She brought so much joy and energy to work with her. She was so giving too. If she found a delicious muffin at some bakery in the city, the next day she would bring in a whole bunch to share with people at work. She was funny, interesting and unique. I think of her often. She is greatly missed. --Debbie Brandewiede
Memorial Pages for Deborah Jacobs Welsh
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