Ruth McCourt
From September 11 Memories
Ruth Clifford McCourt was a resident of New London, Connecticut.
She was born Ruth Magdaline Clifford in Cork, Ireland. Died at age 45 in the crash of United Airlines Flight 175 during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with her four year old daughter, Juliana McCourt, and a friend who had joined them for their intended vacation in Los Angeles. Juliana was her only child.
She was survived by her husband, and her brothers John Clifford, Mark Clifford and Ronnie Clifford. Ronnie was working in the World Trade Center but escaped just as his sister's plane struck.
A memorial to Ruth and her daughter Juliana was dedicated on September 11, 2003 at Mitchell College in New London, CT. Juliana was enrolled as a preschool student in the Children's Learning Center at Mitchell College. Also, a fund was created in their memories, The Juliana Valentine McCourt Children's Education Fund.
John Clifford:
Tragically my sister hit the tower building as my brother was on the ground floor. He's safe now. He's very traumatised. He said he saw sights he would never see again. Very sad. Very evil, but he's safe. I was very concerned when the two buildings collapsed, because I knew Ronnie worked in one. He phoned to say he made it, he was okay, traumatised, that he was within an inch of his life. He went through the front door on the ground floor and a lady was about three seconds in front of him. She was hit by a terrific fireball. She subsequently died.
He said that unfortunately, while he was OK, he had a feeling that his sister - my sister - had left Logan Airport to go to Los Angeles with her daughter at around 7.30 in the morning. So we were then concerned that she may have been on either of the two flights that crashed into the towers, and that was confirmed.
