SALISBURY — A memorial tree honoring Susan Getzendanner, the town’s lone victim of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was destroyed in the powerful July 4 storm, but plans are underway to plant another in her memory.
Getzendanner was a vice president at Fiduciary Trust working on the 97th floor of 2 World Trade Center when the South Tower was struck. Her friend Victor Germack said she was the floor’s fire warden and was helping ensure her colleagues evacuated when she died.
According to her obituary, she laid deep roots in Salisbury “oscillating comfortably back and forth between New York bustle and hiking or gardening on Mt. Riga.”
“Thrift, adventure, loyalty and compassion were her hallmarks,” the obituary read. “She traveled prolifically, especially to Nepal and Tibet, always leaving behind something of herself wherever she went.”
Germack became friends with her when they were both members of the Blue Hill Troupe, a Gilbert and Sullivan nonprofit company performing mainly in New York. Its members became a part of her family.
Germack called her a “fabulous lady with a wonderful smile.” He remembered her amazing collection of Tibetan art.
After she died, her friends planted a Princeton American elm on the lawn in front of the Academy Building. A plaque was placed on the tree to commemorate her memory.
The plaque in memory of Susan Getzendanner is still on the lawn of the Academy Building, but the tree was destroyed in the July 4 storm.Patrick L. Sullivan
The tree grew over the years and Lou Bucceri, executive assistant and historian at the Salisbury Association, said, “It towered over the building’s cupola,” but was blown down in the storm. A plaque can be found on the ground where the tree stood.
Germack’s wife, Lori Shepard, is a member of the Salisbury Association board of directors. She said there are plans to plant another tree in honor of Getzendanner. “Monuments to women are few, and so here we’re recognizing a woman who’s a hero. It’s awfully nice to have a tree memorializing a woman.”
First Selectman Curtis G. Rand said discussions about a new tree are being held. “We need to figure out what species,” he said.
