9/11 - Suria Clarke
Suria Rachel Emma Clarke was a British woman who lived in New York and worked as the vice president for media relations at eSpeed (Cantor Fitzgerald) on the 105th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center. Previously to living in New York, Suria had lived in Brussels, where she worked for The Rowland Company, working with the European Commission. She also worked for Rowland Communications Worldwide in New York City before she worked for eSpeed.
Suria had an apartment in Brooklyn where the D train rumbled along nearby. She loved the city she had made her home – she had sharp eye for the absurdities around her, but she loved it dearly. Suria enjoyed eating Ethiopian food with her friends and hanging out in the Spring Street Lounge. She enjoyed cooking for her friends and sculpting at pottery classes.
In Sanskrit, Suria means “the sun”. It seems a particularly apt name. Suria brought a little sunshine into the lives of those around her. The following description of her is made up of comments from various tributes left by her friends.
She was a person who laughed and smiled and enjoyed life. She was energetic and enthusiastic and her energy and enthusiasm were contagious. She had a light in her that was so bright it shone across the Atlantic to friends overseas. She had an amazing smile, she was sweet and vibrant, she was happy and she had a positive and inspiring outlook on life. She was a good friend – fun yet reliable and caring. She was unforgetable. She liked to play with words, loved to sprinkle her conversation with intentional spoonerisms. She called them “wackword birds,” or backward words. Silliness like that made her laugh.
Suria’s mum Alex Clarke has been involved in the creation of the memorial garden in New York to British people who died on September 11th. “When she learned that her daughter died in the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001, Alex Clarke walked out to her sanctuary - the garden. It was her way of coping with the awful reality that her “little girl” would never come home.” (Scotsman.com Heritage & Culture) Alex, and Suria’s brother Tom have also been involved in the UK Families 11 September Support Group which was formed a few months after the event.
I was blessed to receive the name of Suria Clarke as the person I was to make my tribute to.
My condolences on the loss of a lovely daughter and sister to her Mum Alex, her Dad John, and her brothers Tom & Jack.
I would like to acknowledge the following people who posted information about Suria, or left tributes about her which gave me more idea of the person she was.
- Luke
- Maria
- Marc Wilke
- Håkan Jarlenius
- Karin Gehm Barrett
- Shannon Filippelli
- Chris Kimble
- Raul Gutierrez
With thanks to the following websites:
- Newsday.com
- Independent Newspaper
- americanmemorials.com
- september11victims.com
- heritage.scotsman.com
September 20th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
Five years later, I cannot forget Suria with his smiling eyes. We were colleagues in the same Brussels’s public relations agency. She was young with a face beaming of joy; she has beauty and talent, a future. I weep for the loss of such a wonderful woman. Her presence in Europe was a blessing. I will always be thankful for what she brought to my life. Thank you Suria, you stay in my memory.
My thoughts and deepest sympathy are to her family.
September 7th, 2008 at 4:03 am
What a lovely tribute to a beautiful soul. I worked with Suria at Rowland Communications for a very short time. In that time though I knew she was a special person. It is almost 7 seven years later now and the world is that much darker without “the sun”. I hope Suria’s family knows that many miss her and think of her. Rest in Peace Suria