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Son's delayed commute turns into dad's relief
By JIM ROSS and Times staff reports
© St. Petersburg Times, BEVERLY HILLS -- He cried. He worried. And he waited. Then the phone finally rang. It was shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday. Matthew Loehle picked up the receiver. Relief. His son, Jimmy, a financial consultant who works at the World Trade Center, was okay. "He was stuck in traffic, thank God," said Loehle, 72, a Beverly Hills retiree. "Maybe another 10 minutes he would have been in the building." Loehle couldn't control the tears. "The phone rang," he said. "It was like a miracle. I've been trying to call all morning long. I'm so happy. "I just couldn't believe it. It was like a resurrection. I thought he died." The emotional roller coaster landed safely for Matthew Loehle. The ride was different for countless other parents, relatives and friends who lost loved ones in this unspeakable tragedy. "This is just so sad. They say this is like Pearl Harbor," Loehle said. Loehle watched TV all day, horrified as the details unfolded. He had plenty of company in Citrus County and across the country. The first plane hit the first tower in New York just before 9 a.m. The second plane hit the second tower 18 minutes later. Then came word of plane crashes at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. TV coverage was instantaneous. The images were almost surreal. It was a day no American will forget. Here's a look at how it unfolded in Citrus: At 9:45 a.m.,. Danny Geldreich, a pilot for ProLine Boats, took off from the Crystal River Airport. He was bound for Titusville, where he had business. Geldreich was in the air just five minutes when he was instructed to return to Crystal River. The Federal Aviation Administration had issued an order that all planes be advised to land so aviation officials could better monitor radar for possible terrorist activity. "It was the first time I ever heard anything like that," said Geldreich, 46, a pilot with 20 years of experience. About 10 a.m., Pati Smith finally had some luck. Smith, the parks and recreation director for Inverness, spent the morning listening to radio reports and praying that her relatives were okay. Her niece, Marie Elena Aruta, and her brother-in-law, Anthony Aruta, both work in offices that are a few blocks from the World Trade Center. After hitting a wall of busy phone lines, Smith finally reached another New York relative. She learned that no one had heard yet from Marie Elena or Anthony Aruta. "The first crash was around 8:45, and I'm trying to think where they would be at that point," Smith said. "Maybe they lucked out and hit traffic. . . . I don't know. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed." David Greagrey's pager buzzed about 10:30 a.m. He was expecting the call. Greagrey, 28, is a residential team leader at the Brown Schools. He also serves with the Florida Air National Guard, which provides satellite communication support in times of emergency, such as hurricanes or terrorist attacks. The Guard was trying to reach him, no doubt to put him on alert for a possible mission. Greagrey notified his Brown supervisors. He and his colleagues already had handled the delicate task of notifying Brown clients, all of whom suffer from emotional problems and potentially have trouble digesting such awful news. Now it was time, perhaps, to help someplace else. Greagrey didn't know how, or if, he would be called to serve Tuesday morning. But he was ready for anything. "In the military," he said, "you get good training." School superintendent David Hickey issued the e-mail about 10:30 a.m. Schools would remain in session, he wrote to administrators, but extracurricular activities would be canceled. Some schools locked doors. Others stepped up campus security. Parents were allowed to pick their children up. Many took advantage of the offer. Lecanto resident Patricia Cowen, a Manhattan native, was watching in disbelief as the television news showed the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings. It was 11 a.m. "I have been there. I have been up in those buildings, on the observation deck and in the restaurants," Cowen said. "I see it (on television), yet it's inconceivable to me that it's not there." Within minutes of the first plane crash, Cowen received a reassuring phone call from her eldest daughter, Karen Ortiz, who lives several blocks from the trade center. Then another reassuring call came from her youngest daughter, Rachel Vecchione, whose husband works nearby. Still unaccounted for, however, was Cowen's sister, Betty Peist, who works at a large law firm near the towers. "I'm trying to get a fix on the time. The initial crash was at 8:45, and I'm not sure if she would be (at the office) or in transit," Cowen said. "If she was working later in the day, she would still be at home. "You'd just like to hear something, like, "Hey, I'm okay,' " Cowen said. At noon, Geoff Moore and Justin Winch stepped outside the Winn-Dixie in Beverly Hills, where they worked, for a smoke break. "I think it's horrible. But it's all we've been talking about this morning. If this means war, I wouldn't hesitate to join up or be drafted," said Moore, 20, of Citrus Springs. "I wouldn't be running off to Canada like others did in the Vietnam draft." Said Winch, 21: "I don't want to go to war, it worries me to think about it, but if I gotta go, I will fight for my country." School Board Chairwoman Patience Nave, sitting at the District Services Center in Inverness, talked to a reporter about 12:45 p.m. The board meeting would be held as planned, Nave reported. Then she paused. "I was sitting here watching the flag flying and it dawned on me, those should be at half-staff," she said. Nave went to make the arrangements. The County Commission was supposed to meet at 1 p.m. It did, but only for five minutes -- just long enough for commissioners to approve the consent agenda and reschedule all other matters for the Sept. 25 meeting. "I think the people of this county, this state and this country are more concerned with the national tragedies that have occurred today," Commission Chairman Roger Batchelor said. "Their minds are not with us on the local level as we would like them to be." Commissioner Jim Fowler's opening prayer, usually an invocation to guide the commission's discussions, turned Tuesday into a wish for world peace. "We pray that you look into the hearts of those who would harm us and cure them of their evil intentions," Fowler prayed. At 1:15 p.m., Hernando residents Peter and Ursula Lanino finally had some relief. They spent a tense morning waiting for word of their son-in-law, Gary Bilezikian, who was driving near the World Trade Center on Tuesday. With cell phones out, the Laninos' daughter, Heidi Bilezikian, was unable to hear from her husband or know his whereabouts. "He was on the George Washington Bridge and he actually saw the plane go into the building and go down," Ursula Lanino said. "He turned around as soon as he could. He just turned around and went home. I'm so relieved. He's got two little babies. "It's terrible," Ursula Lanino said. "You feel absolutely devastated that something like this can happen in the United States and Heidi is so upset. She is an artist and all her friends are artists and they all work in the Trade Center and vicinity." At 2 p.m., the Citrus Community Blood Bank in Inverness looked and sounded like Grand Central Station. Phones were ringing. The parking lot was full. The three seats where people recline while donating blood were occupied, with plenty of people lined up waiting their turns. Hospitals in New York and Washington, D.C., had put out the word: They needed an infusion of blood products to help the survivors. "I'm off today and my mom called today from New York and said, "Have you seen the TV?' I turned it on and couldn't believe what I saw," said Doris Philpot, 49, of Inverness, who grew up in Brooklyn. "I was sitting in front of the TV when I heard that blood might be needed. I'm a regular donor. My first thought was to come down here." Peggy Reed was there with her husband, Bob. He was there to give blood because he's having hip replacement surgery. When they got there, she decided that, to help people involved in the tragedy, she would give, as well. "I was in here so I thought I might as well give some. It's unreal the amount of people that are coming here," Mrs. Reed said. Scott Lockhart, branch manager for the blood bank's Lecanto office, said he was receiving a similar response. "We had a tremendous response and people started calling and coming in around 10-10:30 this morning," Lockhart said. "Right now, it looks like it (volume) has tripled. We do expect more. Expect to see quite a few this evening and even more tomorrow." The Crystal River Mall closed about 2 p.m. "out of respect to the loss suffered by many American families due to the tragic events of the day," according to a recorded phone message. The mall was expected to reopen today. At 2:30 p.m., students at Pope John Paul II Catholic School gathered for an assembly and prayer service. They had not yet been told about the tragedy. As night approached, many Citrus adults headed to church. The Crystal River United Methodist Church, which normally closes its NW First Avenue church around 4:30 p.m., stayed open until 10 p.m. Tuesday for parishioners to offer their prayers. Prayer services were also scheduled at St. Benedict's Catholic Church in Crystal River and the First Baptist Church of Inverness. Times staff writer Jim Ross wrote this story. It includes information from staff writers Jorge Sanchez, Bridget Hall Grumet, Alex Leary, Barbara Behrendt, Paulette Lash Ritchie, Keith Niebuhr and Carey Freeman.
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