Remembering Raymond J. Metz III

I will preface this by saying that I have never met Raymond J. Metz. When I signed on for Project 2996, I knew I'd be getting the name of someone I never knew, because I was fortunate enough to not know anyone personally who lost their life on September 11, 2001.

There are so many people out there missing someone because of that day. Missing their spouse, their parent, their child, their friend.

Raymond J. Metz was all of these things to someone.

I have compiled some of the following information, found on legacy.com and from the NY Times online, to help you all know a little more about this man and his life.

Raymond Metz took merciless ribbing at work for his taste in sports teams. What could he expect? He worked in New York and yet rooted enthusiastically for Boston. Not just the Red Sox; the New England Patriots were his football team. The Bruins were his hockey team. Mr. Metz even had season tickets to the Patriots.

"So he was very popular in downtown Manhattan," said his wife, Patrice. "It made for a lot of sports bets."

One of the reasons Mr. Metz and his wife picked Trumbull, Conn., to live with their two young daughters was that it made the trip to the New England football games more acceptable.

Mr. Metz, 37, a currency broker for Euro Brokers, was born in Ohio, but moved to the North Shore of Boston with his family when he was young. He was the state champion in the hurdles in high school and continued to play hockey and ski as an adult.

When you're a Boston sports fan, you need to protect the tradition, so he was methodically indoctrinating his daughters, Natalie and Halie. "It was working," his wife said. "He used to get them all the paraphernalia from the Boston teams." But he would settle for indulging in their interests. As his wife put it, "He was equally happy painting the girls' nails and playing with Barbies while watching a hockey match."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 9, 2001.

METZ-Raymond J. III. Age 37, of Trumbull, CT, a currency broker for Euro Brokers Inc., died on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 during the attack on the World Trade Center Twin Towers. Born in Lakewood, OH., and raised on the North Shore of Boston, he was the son of Raymond J. Metz Jr. and Margaret Quinn Metz of North Andover, MA. He was a Trumbull resident for the past five years. Ray was a 1982 graduate of St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, MA. and received a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from Boston University. He was an avid sports enthusiast who played recreational hockey and enjoyed skiing. In addition to his parents, survivors include his beloved wife, Patrice Costello Metz; two daughters, Natalie Anne and Halie Marie, all of Trumbull, CT; a sister, Wendy Metz of Belmont, MA; and several cousins, aunts and uncles. A Memorial Mass celebrating his life will take place in St. Theresa Church, 5301 Main Street, Trumbull, CT on Thursday, September 27, 2001 at 11 AM. At the request of the family, in lieu of flowers, those desiring may make memorial contributions to an education fund to benefit Natalie and Halie Metz, C/O People's Bank, 888 White Plains Road, Trumbull, CT. 06611

I discovered on a site that had been put together shortly after the attacks that Mr. Metz had called his wife, Patrice, from his office at Euro Brokers on the 84th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center to reassure her.

"He called me at ten of nine after the first plane hit Tower 1 to tell me he was OK and getting out," Patrice Metz said.

That was the last time she spoke with her husband. She and her husband had driven in to work together that morning around 5 a.m., and parted when she headed to her job at a lower Manhattan law firm.

She described her husband, a Boston University graduate, as a great guy and father of two daughters, aged 3 and 7 at the time of his passing.

I am so sorry for the senseless loss that Mrs. Metz and their daughters have experienced. I am sorry for his other family and friends. I have seen from a memorial guest book that there are still a lot of people out there missing him, as the comments keep coming.

His girls are 11 and 15 now. I am so so sad that they don't have their dad to come home to each day. I pray that time is healing their wounds, though I know they will never fully heal. I'm sure Mr. Metz is looking down on them, proud of all they've accomplished.

I also pray that our nation will never experience such an attack on our country again, so no one else will have to go through what the Metz family has gone through.

Sources:

http://www.legacy.com/sept11/story.aspx?personid=97184
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/24/classified/paid-notice-deaths-metz-raymond-j-iii.html
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-htmlstory-ctvictims,0,2010191.htmlstory