Judy H. Fernandez: Hard Worker,
Hard Player
Judy
H. Fernandez was not supposed to be at her office in the
World Trade Center on Sept. 11. She was scheduled to
leave for a business trip later that day, and could have
taken the morning off. But she went in to take care of a
few things.
For Ms. Fernandez, 27, being conscientious was a way
of life. She worked as a benefits specialist in the human
resources department at Cantor Fitzgerald, and made a
habit of using her skills to help friends with their
careers, even landing her cousin Maria Santillan a job at
eSpeed. She was so organized that she made lists of all
her goals and preferences: everything from her favorite
flower to her desire to marry her boyfriend, Jon
Plamenco. "She knew what she wanted in life, and she was
going to do what she had to do to get it," said her
sister, Emma.
"She wanted to be on the go all the time," said her
mother, Corazon. "She loved anything exciting." Years
after her brother, Rich, taught her how to ski, Ms.
Fernandez took up snowboarding and taught everyone she
knew. She had a large and tight-knit group of friends,
and her organizational skills would often be put to use
planning parties and ski trips.
Ms. Fernandez and her friends had a tradition: a
monthly girls' night. There was a girls' night scheduled
for Wednesday, Sept. 12, but because she was supposed to
be out of town, her friends moved it up to Monday the
10th. Nearly all of Ms. Fernandez's friends were there,
and her family has a photo of all of them, snapped at
10:45 p.m.
.
