Amy Jarret

Taking Care of Others

Amy N. Jarret, a flight attendant on United Airlines 175, loved to travel. But the 28-year-old Ms. Jarret also kept flying because it gave her the resources and free time to divide herself between Philadelphia, where her longtime boyfriend, Kyle Rusconi, lives and the home she shared with her father and two brothers in her native Rhode Island.

The men in Ms. Jarret's life marveled at her organizational skills. "When she was around, everything ran smoothly," said Marc Jarret, her brother.

"I told her she had to start thinking more about her own needs, but she liked taking care of others," said Mr. Rusconi, who met Ms. Jarret at the 1995 homecoming of their alma mater, Villanova University. She enjoyed slot machines and betting on racehorses, but fretted that she was spoiling herself if she was lured by a clothing sale.

"We assumed we would get married when it came time to have children," said Mr. Rusconi, who had recently completed a two- year job in Australia. "We just needed to be in the same place a little longer."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 30, 2001.


Amy Nicole Jarret had decided to become a flight attendant only because the job market was bad when she graduated from Villanova University in 1994 and she had just happened to encounter a recruiter from a major American airline on campus there.

Jarret was a flight attendant on United Flight 175 that slammed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Her father, Aram Jarret, said his daughter was hopelessly in love with her college boyfriend and that a glittering diamond engagement ring seemed only months away. She was a rabid Notre Dame football fan who would call her dad in tears if the Fighting Irish were losing at halftime.

"She was wonderful," Aram Jarret said.