Tampa Bay Coalition
Pamela Boyce
 
 
 
The New York Times
The Human Toll
'Don't Mourn My Death, Celebrate My Life'
By SCOTT MARTELLE and CHRISTINE HANLEY,
Times Staff Writer
Families are holding funerals and memorial services for the victims of last week's terrorist attacks, even as the search continues in the rubble of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The death toll is expected to reach into the thousands in New York, at the Pentagon and in western Pennsylvania, where the last of four hijacked airliners crashed. Here are more profiles of the dead and missing:

Pamela Boyce
Two weeks ago, Pamela Boyce and her partner of 6½ years, Catherine Anello, talked of the inevitable for no particular reason, unaware of how soon it would come.

"Her direct quote was, 'Don't mourn my death, celebrate my life,' " Anello said. "She's been saying for years, 'I'm not afraid to die, because where I'm going is beautiful.' "

Last week, Boyce, 43, of Brooklyn, was at work on the 92nd floor of the World Trade Center's north tower when it was struck by a hijacked airliner.

Anello described Boyce as driven by personal goals.

While working full time as assistant vice president of accounting for financial services firm Carr Futures Inc., Boyce maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average at night school, graduating in May with an associate's degree in accounting from Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn. She planned to go on for bachelor's and master's degrees, Anello said.

"Once she put her mind to it, that was it," Anello said. "I used to get tired watching her come home and study after a full day of work."

Still, Boyce had plenty of energy left over for friends.

"During the summer, we were always at the beach. She loved to get a tan and relax," Anello said. "Or we'd go to a friend's house and hang out poolside and celebrate whatever was going on."

Boyce also is survived by her mother, Laura Alessi of South Amboy, N.J.; her father, Noel Boyce of Port Charlotte, Fla.; two sisters, Desiree of South Amboy, N.J., and Gina of Jamesburg, N.J.; and two nieces and a nephew.
 
 
 
 
Pamela Boyce
A No-Nonsense Life

Sometimes people would see Pamela J. Boyce's direct, no-nonsense style and take it for abrasiveness, says her partner, Catherine Anello. But Pamela, 43, refused to change. "It was similar to slapping someone in the face," Catherine says of the woman she shared a life with in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. "If there was someone who lost a loved one and had been grieving too long, so that they were not living their life, she would say, `Stop. It's not what they would want. They are in a better place.' She said, `I'm not afraid to die because I know where I am going is beautiful.' "

Pamela had been the assistant vice president of accounting in the New York office of Carr Futures, on the 92nd floor of 1 World Trade Center. She was a competitive disco dancer. One of her happiest moments was serving as a Lamaze coach for her sister Desiree when her niece Kristina was born. "She was so neurotic there she had to find something specific on the baby to make sure they got the right one," Catherine said, laughing. "I think she finally found a little mark on her ear."

Pamela loved to dance to disco. She also counted serving as a Lamaze coach for her sister when her niece was born as one of her happiest moments. Boyce had been assistant vice president of accounting in the New York office of Carr Futures on the 92nd floor of 1 World Trade Center. She was known for her direct, no-nonsense style. "It was similar to slapping someone in the face," said her partner, Catherine Anello, with whom she lived in New York City. Anello said if someone who had lost a loved one was grieving too long or not moving on with their lives, Boyce would tell them: "Stop. It's not what they would want." Anello said Boyce used to say: "I'm not afraid to die because I know where I am going is beautiful."

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