Jesus Sanchez 3/20/56-0/11/01

Described by friends as relaxed, easy going and generous, Jesus could always be counted on to cover a shift for a co-worker. On September 11, along with fellow employee Marianne MacFarlane, he even helped check in passengers on United Flight 175 before taking his seat on the ill-fated flight to Los Angeles. 

Less than an hour later, Jesus and Marianne died together when terrorists crashed their flight into the World Trade Tower. The tragedy rocked the civilized world and stunned the close-knit family of airline workers in Boston, where two of the hijacked aircraft originated. 

“They were on the kind of vacation that airline workers often take,” said co-worker and close friend Danny Robinson. “Quickly planned, only a couple of days long and anyone with a couple of days off was welcome. Several other United workers were getting later flights to join Jesus and Marianne in Las Vegas.”

“When he wasn’t at work, Jesus lived for his five year-old son, Mark,” said Robinson. “Until his mom died a couple of years ago, his life was completely taken up with caring for the two of them. I don’t think he minded that he never had any time for himself. That’s just the kind of person he was.”

“No one knows what the last few minutes of that flight were like,” said Robinson. “I don’t think anyone can bear to imagine it. But the way Jesus was, I’m certain he was holding onto to Marianne, comforting her, doing something for someone else, right up to the last second of his life.”

Jesus Sanchez is survived by his son, Mark, and his daughter, Felicita.