DEBRA LYNN FISCHER GIBBON

A DREAM OF THE SEA

Debra Lynn Fischer Gibbon was the kind of person who inspired confidence, even in strangers. Meeting her for the first time, Warren J. Mura, an executive vice president at Aon Corporation, immediately wanted to hire her. Months later, he succeeded in luring her from Wausau Insurance Companies, where — a registered nurse — she had worked for 17 years in the area of occupational health.

At Aon, Ms. Gibbon, a senior vice president, coordinated services for the company’s top clients. “She was one of those people who would walk into a room, and you would listen to what they had to say,” Mr. Mura said.

Divorced and the mother of three teenagers, Ms. Gibbon, 43, had a punishing schedule that included a 90-minute commute from Washington Township in Morris County, N.J. But she managed to attend her children’s soccer and basketball games and sew her own curtains, said her sister, Karen Zaccaria-Cockrell. As a girl, Ms. Gibbon spent two weeks sailing on Lake Saranac in the Adirondacks, and had longed ever since to live by the sea, her sister said. “That was her dream,” Ms. Zaccaria-Cockrell said. “To be on the water.”

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on April 7, 2002.

DEBRA GIBBON, 43, HANDLED LIFE WITH APLOMB

At the hour of her death, Debra Lynn Fischer Gibbon’s thoughts were on the people around whom she had built her life — her three teenage children, her parents, her brother and her sister.

Mrs. Gibbon, 43, of Long Valley, a senior vice president at AON Risk Services Inc., was leading a business meeting on the 105th floor of Two World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11. When the first tower burst into flames after being hit by a hijacked airplane, she called her brother, Adam Fischer III, and asked him to let the rest of the family know she was OK.

“God bless you,” Adam Fischer remembers telling his sister. “Please get out of there.”

The second plane struck her building before she could.

“She loved her children with all her heart, and she loved her job,” Mr. Fischer said. “She loved her parents and her sister and brother and their families. Her life was dedicated to her family and her career.”

Mrs. Gibbon was born in Orange and raised in Maplewood and Basking Ridge. She graduated from Ridge High School in 1975. Four years later, she earned a nursing degree from West Virginia’s Wesleyan College.

She was a registered nurse with a certification in occupational health nursing and safety. She was accredited by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals.

Mrs. Gibbon spent 17 years at Wassau Insurance before going to work at AON 21/2 years ago.

“Debra was a true professional — well-respected by her colleagues and clients,” said Warren Mula, managing director and executive vice president of AON. “She will be sadly missed by all who knew her.”

Mrs. Gibbon always balanced the demands of her work and home lives. She worked full-time as she raised her three children. Nonetheless, she was always involved with their soccer teams and their many other activities, her brother said.

When she wasn’t working, Mrs. Gibbon enjoyed sailing. She spent as much time as she could with her children and extended family at a beach home in Lavallette, Mr. Fischer said.

Mrs. Gibbon was a member of Long Valley Presbyterian Church.

Surviving, in addition to her brother, are her three children, Zachary, 18; Heather, 16, and Adam, 13; her parents, Joan and Adam Fischer Jr.; her sister, Karen Zaccaria-Cockrell; and five nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Debra Lynn Fischer Gibbon Memorial Fund, c/o Merrill Lynch, 172 Main St., Chester, N.J. 07930.

Profile by Tom Feeney published in THE STAR-LEDGER.

Many thanks to Mike Townsend for posting this information on the WV Wesleyan Re-Connections: 1974-85 Cluster Facebook Group