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McEneaney

Eamon McEneaney, who was an All-American lacrosse player at Cornell University in the 1970s and considered one of the best ever to play the game, is among the victims of the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.

A member of the Class of 1977, McEneaney was an employee of the securities firm Cantor Fitzgerald, whose offices were on the top floors of the World Trade Center.

"Eamon was a world-class athlete during the late 70s and ranks among the very best players ever to play the sport of lacrosse," said J. Andrew Noel Jr., director of athletics and physical education at Cornell. "He earned first team All-America honors three times from 1975 through 1977. In 1975, Eamon earned the Jack Turnbull Award as the outstanding attackman in NCAA Division 1 and, in 1977, was the Lt. Raymond Enners Award winner signifying the outstanding player in all of NCAA lacrosse."

Noel added, "Eamon was an intensely loyal friend who was well known for his competitive spirit, courage, leadership and generosity. In the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, he is credited with helping to save 65 employees whom he led down a stairwell, thick with black smoke, by organizing a human chain.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Eamon's wife, Bonnie, their four children, Eamon's father, brothers, family members and the hundreds of friends he touched throughout his life. His death represents an immeasurable loss to all those fortunate to have known him," Noel said.

McEneaney was voted the outstanding player in the 1977 NCAA Championship game and represented the United States in the 1978 World Lacrosse Championships. He was inducted into the Cornell Sports Hall of Fame in 1982 and the national Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1993. In 1995, he was named to the NCAA's Silver Anniversary Lacrosse Team, recognizing his place among the best players of the first quarter century of NCAA lacrosse. In addition to lacrosse, McEneaney excelled in football, Noel said. He lettered in 1974 and 1976 and was an outstanding wide-receiver. He was named to the All-Ivy second team in 1976 when he led Cornell in receiving and was second in team scoring. "Eamon is often touted as the toughest Cornell athlete, 'pound for pound,' that ever wore a Cornell jersey," Noel said. "I have never heard this reputation challenged."

A celebration of McEneaney's life will be held Friday, Sept. 21 at 11 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 178 Oenoke Ridge Rd., New Canaan, Conn.