Lauren Grandcolas
Born
Lauren Catuzzi

(1963-08-31)August 31, 1963
Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.
DiedSeptember 11, 2001(2001-09-11) (aged 38)
Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. on board Flight 93
Cause of deathPlane crash (September 11 terrorist attacks)
NationalityAmerican
Known forPassenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93
Spouse
Jack Grandcolas
​
(m. 1991)​
[1]
Children1 unborn child

Lauren Grandcolas (August 31, 1963 – September 11, 2001) was one of the passengers on board United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, who made calls providing information about the hijacking of the flight as part of the September 11 attacks. She made a call to her husband on an airphone and left a message telling him of a "problem with the plane".

Biography

Grandcolas (née Catuzzi) was born on August 31, 1963, in Bloomington, Indiana.[2] She attended Stratford High School in Houston, Texas, and later the University of Texas at Austin where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi.[3] She met her husband, Jack Grandcolas, at the university.[2]

She worked for a law firm and for PricewaterhouseCoopers[2] before becoming a marketing expert for Good Housekeeping. Grandcolas was also writing a book on self-help for women, covering finance and other topics. At the time of her death, a publisher was interested in her book.[4]

Her sisters worked together with the publisher, Chronicle Books, to get the book published after her death.[5] The book, entitled You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls, was published on April 10, 2005.[6] It provides a guide, modeled on the Girl Scouts' merit badge system,[7] covering skills, such as negotiations, and life goals, such as horseback riding, scuba diving, and completing a triathlon.[8][9] Book excerpts have appeared in Parade, Glamour, Shape, Good Housekeeping, and other magazines.[10] Grandcolas's sisters appeared on Good Morning America on April 19, 2005, to discuss the book.[11] The proceeds from sales of the book go to the Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation, which contributes funds to a college scholarship program.[12]

Grandcolas was also involved with charitable organizations, including the United Way, March of Dimes, Project Open Hand, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Breast Cancer Awareness, and Glide Memorial.[2] She was also a certified emergency medical technician.[13]

September 11 attacks

"Jack, pick up sweetie, can you hear me? Okay. I just want to tell you, there's a little problem with the plane. I'm fine. I'm totally fine. I just want to tell you how much I love you."
Message left by Lauren Grandcolas from United 93.[14]
Grandcolas's name and her unborn child are memorialized on Panel S-68 of the South Pool of the National September 11 Memorial.

Grandcolas had been attending her grandmother's funeral in Carlstadt, New Jersey, and was returning home to San Rafael, California.[4][15] She arrived early at the airport on September 11, 2001, allowing her to board United Airlines Flight 93, which was earlier than her originally scheduled flight.[4]

Grandcolas name on the Flight 93 National Memorial

Grandcolas, who was originally seated in seat 11D, called her husband from towards the rear of the aircraft in row 23.[16] She left a message for her husband, who was still sleeping, telling him of the "problem with the plane".[14] Her last phone message to her husband was played in the docudrama The Flight That Fought Back.[17] She then passed her phone to Honor Elizabeth Wainio (It was later determined to be Marion Britton who had Grandcolas's phone).[18] At the time of her death, at the age of 38, she was three months pregnant with their first child.[17]

Grandcolas's father, Lawrence R. Catuzzi, served as co-chairman of the Flight 93 National Memorial task force, from 2002 to 2005.[19][20]

Grandcolas and her unborn child were memorialized at the South Pool, on Panel S-68, along with other passengers on Flight 93, at the National 9/11 Memorial.[21]

Published works

  • You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls, 2005 Chronicle Books; Bk&Sticker ISBN 0-8118-4635-0 (Published posthumously through the efforts of her sisters, Vaughn Lohec and Dara Near)
  • In the 2005 television film The Flight That Fought Back, which depicts the passenger uprising inside the hijacked United Airlines 93, Lauren Grandcolas is portrayed by Christy Dawn Little.
  • She is portrayed by Jacqueline Ann Steuart in the 2006 film Flight 93.
  • She is portrayed by Kate Jennings Grant in the 2006 film United 93.

References

  1. ↑ Pelletiere, Nicole (9 September 2016). "Love Lost: 9/11 Spouses Reveal What They Wish Their Partners Knew". ABC News. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Boxer, Senator Barbara (September 9, 2002). "House Document No. 107-285". Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  3. ↑ "Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation: About Us". Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 July 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 Longman, Jere (2003). Among the Heroes. Harper Collins. ISBN 9780060099084.
  5. ↑ Ward, Paula Reed (September 11, 2006). "Vaughn Lohec; Missing a Sister Killed on Flight 93". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  6. ↑ Grandcolas, Lauren Catuzzi (24 March 2005). You Can Do It!: The Merit Badge Handbook for Grown-Up Girls (Paperback). Chronicle Books. ISBN 0811846350.
  7. ↑ Upshaw, Jennifer (April 25, 2005). "Book by Sept. 11 victim is going on tour". Marin Independent Journal.
  8. ↑ "Leisure reading". Deseret News. June 3, 2005.
  9. ↑ Upshaw, Jennifer (February 5, 2005). "This way, her spirit lives on". Marin Independent Journal.
  10. ↑ Blyth, Myrna (April 21, 2005). "You Can Do It! Women doing something different in media". National Review. Archived from the original on 19 September 2005. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  11. ↑ Kinsella, Bridget (April 11, 2005). "Dream On". Publishers Weekly. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on 13 November 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  12. ↑ "You Can Do It!". Ladies' Home Journal. Archived from the original on October 16, 2006. Retrieved 17 November 2006.
  13. ↑ "Sept. 11, Flight 93 Forever Changed Husband's Life". FOX News Network, LLC. Fox News. 11 September 2006. Archived from the original on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  14. 1 2 Zahn, Paula (December 28, 2001). "Remembering The Victims: Lauren Grandcolas". CNN. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  15. ↑ "Passenger: Lauren Grandcolas". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing. 28 October 2001. Archived from the original on 5 November 2001. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  16. ↑ "Exhibit #P200018, United States v. Zacarias Moussaoui". United States District Court. Eastern District of Virginia. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  17. 1 2 Toby, Mekeisha Madden (September 10, 2005). "9-11 special tells story of the struggle on Flight 93; Unsettling documentary imagines the jetliner's final journey over Pennsylvania". The Detroit News.
  18. ↑ Pauley, Jane (September 11, 2006). "No greater love". NBC News. Retrieved August 24, 2008.
  19. ↑ "Planning for the Flight 93 National Memorial" (PDF). National Park Service. June 2004.
  20. ↑ Murtha, John (December 13, 2002). "Co-Chairs Announced for Flight 93 National Memorial Task Force". United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 31 December 2007. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  21. ↑ "South Pool: Panel S-68: Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas and her unborn child". Memorial Guide: National 9/11 Memorial. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2011.

23. Elizabeth Wainio Archived 2018-01-12 at the Wayback Machine

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