Grace Alegre-Cua: Romance and the
Towers
Grace
Alegre and Ildefons Cua found romance at the south tower.
Fresh out of graduate school from the University of
Massachusetts, Ms. Alegre applied for a job as an
accountant at Metropolitan Bank and Trust on the 17th
floor, where Mr. Cua was the accounting manager, in
1986.
"She didn't get the job, but she found a husband," Mr.
Cua said. They married shortly after the interview and
she became Mrs. Alegre-Cua. They have two children,
Nicole, 13, and Patrick, 9.
Mrs. Alegre-Cua did not have any trouble finding
employment elsewhere. Two weeks after the interview, she
was hired at Chuo Mitsui Trust & Banking Company,
where she worked for 14 years, most recently at 2 World
Trade Center.
The only reason she did not get the job at
Metropolitan was that the position had just been filled
recently and Mr. Cua had conducted the interview as a
favor to the general manager, he said.
"She was very smart," he said, "but I couldn't hire
her. I don't know if we were in love right away, but I
was interested because of her beauty and sweetness."
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