Ana M. Centeno

'Like a Sister'
If you could not find Ana Centeno in her office at Marsh & McLennan, then she was one of two places: at the gym, or on the track at Hudson County Park in Bayonne, N.J. An avid runner, Ms. Centeno spent so much time running that her family held a candlelight memorial service on the track at Hudson County Park, and her picture is still there.

"She had dancing eyes," her brother, Jesus Centeno, said. "She was very athletic and when she went for something, she achieved it."

Ms. Centeno, 38, was an accountant and a good friend to many. "It's hard to be without her," said Diana Rodriguez, who said Ms. Centeno "was just like a sister to her" even when she had just begun to date Jesus Centeno years ago. "Ana was just Ana, lovable, sweet. She made me feel comfortable when I first met her 17 years ago and we'd been like sisters ever since."

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


Ana Centeno, 38, dedicated to fitness and children

Ana Centeno was a woman who was born to run.

There she went -- her tall, muscular silhouette sprinting through Liberty State Park many evenings after work, leaving the world behind her.

"They called her the bionic woman," said her boyfriend, Ed Pulver. "She was 110 percent physique."

She even walked fast, moving briskly along New York's sidewalks as she made her way to work on the 101st floor of One World Trade Center, where she was employed by an accounting firm. She was in the building on Sept. 11 when a hijacked airliner crashed into the tower.

Ms. Centeno, 38, was proud of her strapping build, working out at a gym in Bayonne most evenings from 6 to 10 p.m. with her younger brother Jesus Centeno. Her abdomen, said her sister Angie Rivera, was tight and hard like a washboard.

The strenuous workout regiment provided a kind of therapy, said Rivera, who remembers Ms. Centeno as the most energetic of the Centeno siblings.

Born in Puerto Rico, Ms. Centeno was the fourth of eight children. When she was in elementary school, she and her family moved to Jersey City.

Because she was so energetic and loved to run, her siblings often designated her to take care of errands.

"She was always into sports since she was little," said Angie Rivera. "She was very agile."

Although she excelled in school, she was reluctant to pursue a higher education degree immediately after she graduated from high school. So Ms. Centeno worked as a secretary for several years before attending New Jersey City University.

She received a degree in business and passed her CPA examination -- on her first try, Pulver said proudly.

During her spare time, Ms. Centeno loved to sketch portraits and spend time with her large brood of nieces and nephews. Although she never had children of her own, Ms. Centeno dedicated herself to children's causes, using the races she ran to raise money for children's groups.

She was supposed to run a half marathon on Sept. 30. Instead, her brother and running partner Jesus Centeno ran it in her memory.

"She was the strongest one of the family," he said. "She was the one who made the family stand up."

In addition to her brother and sister, Ms. Centeno is survived by her mother, Antonia Torres of Puerto Rico; sisters Margarita Perez of Jersey City, Ana Luz Centeno of Puerto Rico and Maria Paraza of Jersey City; and brothers Havier Massa of Jersey City and Harry Massa of New York.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Anna Centeno Fund, 99 Montgomery St., Jersey City, N.J. 07302.

A memorial visitation is scheduled for Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Greenville Memorial Home, 374 Danforth Ave., Jersey City.