TOGETHER IN DEATH

Friends board different planes, meet same fate

By Joanna Weiss, Globe Staff, 9/13/2001

est friends Ruth Clifford McCourt, 45, and Paige Farley Hackel, 46, had looked forward to their California plans: a spiritual conference at the Chopra Center for Well Being, a surprise visit to Disneyland for McCourt's 4-year-old daughter. They couldn't muster tickets on the same plane, but they drove to Logan Airport together Tuesday morning.

Hackel boarded American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. McCourt and her daughter, Juliana Valentine McCourt, boarded United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the south tower.

As the airplanes smashed into the buildings, McCourt's brother, Ronnie, was in one of the towers, struggling to get out. He escaped, shaken and scared, and called his family to tell them he was fine. But he said he had an awful premonition about Ruth.

So as they shared relief in one miraculous survival, family and friends have also been mourning three lives.

McCourt, 45, was born in County Cork, Ireland, and still had an Irish lilt in her voice. For many years she lived in Newton, where she owned a spa, Clifford Classiques.

In 1999, she moved to New London, Conn., her husband David's hometown, and quickly became known for her carefully tended gardens and annual St. Patrick's Day parties.

''She arrived with verve and style,'' said Andrew Freedman, a family friend from New London.

And she was devoted to her daughter, Juliana, a happy, lovable child with blond ringlets and blue eyes, Freedman said.

Hackel was a budding spiritual counselor and would-be radio host whose life changed when she entered a substance abuse treatment program 16 years ago. After that, Hackel worked to help others overcome drug and alcohol abuse, said her mother, Marjorie Farley.

Born in Framingham, Hackel spent much of her life in the Boston area and had lived for years in Newton with her husband, Allan.

Hackel's greatest passions were her volunteer work and her spiritual growth, Farley said.

On Tuesday, Farley watched TV reports from a Maryland hotel room and said she had to remind herself of her connection to the tragedy. She watched the footage of the World Trade Center, over and over again, she said, before ''I realized, `Paige was on that plane.'''

This story ran on page A13 of the Boston Globe on 9/13/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.