A Simple Twist of Fate

At age 34, Vice-President for Tax Operations at Fiduciary Trust Company International Christopher Seton Cramer was already looking forward to retirement.  Better than that, he was already counting down the days.  On his 35th birthday, which was just three hundred and seventeen days from September 11, 2001, he intended to take a buyout and retire to the Florida Keys, where he could devote his energy and his time towards his dream of "living on an island, fishing, drinking beer, and growing fat." 

Christopher Seton Cramer

His fiance, Tracy Pereless recounted that he had shared with her that eleven years of driving more than two hundred miles round-trip every day between his home in Ocean County, New Jersey and his job in New York City had taken its toll.  He lived on a lagoon, which he only got to enjoy on weekends.  He very much was looking forward to being able to enjoy life on the water full-time.

In addition to his fiance, Tracy, Mr. Cramer was survived by his parents, Walter and Lynne, his three brothers, Keith, Marc, and Walter, and his sister, Susan. The Brothers Cramer, Christopher and Walter, worked together at Fidicuary Trust's offices on the South Tower's 90th floor.  However, that morning, Walter was running late getting to work, which saved his life.  

Almost unbelievably, Mr. Cramer's former wife, Anne Marie Martino-Cramer, also worked at Fiduciary Trust.  Sadly, she too was already in the company's offices when United Airlines Flight 175 was crashed into the South Tower at 9:03 a.m.  She died as well on that terrible Tuesday morning. 

Anne Marie Martino-Cramer

Ms. Martino-Cramer, a tax specialist at Fiduciary Trust, was forty-seven at the time of her death.  She worked for Fiduciary Trust for twenty-seven years, adored the people with whom she worked, and was committed to the firm.  It was that commitment in fact that had resulted in her being in the office that morning.  Although she had planned to be on vacation, she pushed it back to October, 2001 for work-related reasons.  Her mother, Mildred Martino, with whom she lived in Staten Island, survived her, as did her older sister, Patricia Nilsen, her twin brother, Anthony, and several nephews and nieces.    

-AK