Former mayor recalls how New Jersey town coped with terrorist attacks

Published: 2005-09-08

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. (CNS) -- Four years ago, the traditional Irish tune "Danny Boy" became a sacred touchstone for Jane Reilly. "That was Dan McGinley's song," she said with a warm smile as she sipped a cup of tea in a local cafe. "He always used to sing it at the Knights of Columbus party on St. Patrick's Day." The former mayor of the Bergen County community of Ridgewood in northern New Jersey, Reilly said the bittersweet song of love, loss and remembrance became an impromptu hymn at the funeral Mass for McGinley, which was held four years ago at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. McGinley was one of 12 residents of Ridgewood who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on New York's World Trade Center. Reilly, a parishioner at the Church of the Presentation in the nearby town of Upper Saddle River, said there were many stories from that period that were too wrenching, too private for her to discuss. However, she was proud to share as her most vivid memory the image of hundreds of people at Mount Carmel spontaneously singing the haunting ballad in tribute to a beloved village son.

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .