Like many others, the Mount Holyoke community
was forever altered by the events of September 11. Among the tolls
of the terrorist attacks were the loss of an alumna and the husband
of an alumna. Missing since the attack are Elizabeth M. Gregg
'71, a portfolio manager at Fred Alger Management whose office
was on the ninety-third floor of One World Trade Center, and firefighter
Kevin Bracken, husband of Jennifer Liang '90, who died with his
company in the collapse of the first tower. The College will acknowledge
the passing of Bracken and Gregg during religious services this
Sunday, and there will be a floral arrangement in Abbey Chapel
in their memory. The College bells will toll Sunday, October 28,
at noon in their honor.
Says
President Joanne V. Creighton, "All of us at the College
feel deep sorrow at the news of the death in the World Trade Center
disaster of Elizabeth Gregg and of Kevin Bracken. Our hearts go
out to their families and friends at this painful and difficult
time. We also share the grief of other members of our community
who have lost colleagues, friends, and relatives, and whose lives
have been radically disrupted."
Elizabeth
M. Gregg '71
Elizabeth
M. Gregg, known as Lisa to her friends and family, was a history
major whose Mount Holyoke roots ran deep. When she chose to attend
MHC, she followed in the footsteps of her mother, Luvia Taylor
Gregg '37; her aunt, Margaretta Taylor McGehee '43; and her cousin,
Luvia McGehee Sniffen '69. Gregg continued her education at Yale
University, where she focused on defense spending in fifteenth-century
France and earned a Ph.D. in medieval studies in 1977. Four years
later, she received an M.B.A. from New York University.
Gregg
worked for Fred Alger for eighteen years, and in a Yale Daily
News article of October 1, the company's chief investment officer,
Dan Chung, commented on her dedication to her profession. "In
all the craziness of the go-go stock market, she was very disciplined
in her approach," Chung said. "She never wavered in
trying to understand who her clients were."
Although
she worked in the field of finance, Gregg pursued her interest
in history through frequent visits to France and the restoration
of her 150-year-old brownstone in Brooklyn. Her other interests
included her cats, her friends, and a backyard garden that featured
not only fruits and vegetables, but a grape arbor. "She always
tried to beat the birds to the grapes," said Melissa Gallagher
'71, Gregg's friend since their first week together at MHC. "She
would always give her pies and preserves to people in the community."
Gregg
also contributed to her Brooklyn community through her involvement
in local politics. When Mayor Rudolph Giuliani tried to get Gregg's
City Council member to retire, Gregg formed a neighborhood coalition
to support the council member. "She was one of those people
who had no idea what she meant to other people," Gallagher
said.
Of
her friend, Gallagher recalled, "Lisa was shy but warm, politically
liberal--which exasperated her rather conservative coworkers--hardworking
and very modest, rarely mentioning her accomplishments. It's hard
for me to know what's important or interesting for others to know
about Lisa, because she was so multidimensional and we played
such long and inclusive parts in each other's lives. Basically,
she fit the definition of a wonderful friend--supportive when crises
happened; cautioning when she felt that would be helpful; delighting
in life's fortunate turns; and always available for a long, wide-ranging
conversation about anything."
Kevin
Bracken
Firefighter Kevin Bracken not only was married to Jennifer Liang
'90, but also was a close friend to his wife's MHC circle, made
up of Kerry-Lynn Razzore Katz '90, Lizabeth Paley Kingsley '90,
Nicola Jobson Hadziosmanovic '90, Arianne Duddy Massey '90, and
Jennifer Mora Lamia '89. The women are as close now as they were
at graduation, says Katz, who describes Bracken as "not only
Jen's husband, but a friend to all of us, a close-knit group of
five MHC women and their spouses who all get along famously."
"Jen
met Kevin right around the time I met my husband, shortly after
Jen and I both moved into New York City," Katz writes. "So,
I have known Kevin for eleven years and loved him instantly. He
was certainly the clown in the group, the one with the first witty
comment and the first one down on the floor with the kids. Prior
to becoming a firefighter, Kevin worked in construction, so it
is safe to say that he banged more than his fair share of nails
into all of our homes. Jen and Kevin's relationship was wonderful,
and they truly were each other's best friend."
