Peter O'Neill Jr.,

of Amityville

Brenna McLoughlin spoke to Peter O’Neill Monday night, September 10. The two cousins were close; both the same age and both enthusiastic about starting their jobs and moving on with their lives after their graduation from college.

"We spent some time catching up on things and talked about saving money and maybe getting an apartment together in New York," said Brenna. "He was so proud of what he was doing and was looking forward to a promotion and really contributing something."

It was the last time that Brenna McLoughlin would get to speak to her cousin. Peter O’Neill was among the 6.543 victims who lost their lives in the World Trade Center terrorist attack Tuesday, September 11, just hours after the two cousins talked about their jobs and their futures.

"He was the most generous and loyal and selfless person I ever knew," said McLoughlin. "And he was the hardest working person I knew."

McLoughlin said Peter worked three jobs from the time he was 15 years old, everything from mowing laws to doing whatever he could to keep himself busy and earn money. "He was the kind of person who was running in five different directions at once."

For those who knew Peter person-ally, his death was the most painful news of an already overwhelming tragedy. He would be celebrating his 22nd birthday this November, but that plan was cut short by the horrible terrorist actions that have left his family, and the country, in shock and in mourning.

Peter was the oldest of three children born to Peter, Sr. and Jeanne, both longtime residents of Amityville. He is also survived by his sister Bridie, brother Thomas as well as grandmother Joan Kretz and grandfather Thomas O’Neill. He was also part of a very large extended family, including 42 cousins and 30 aunts and uncles, the majority of which reside in Amityville.

Growing up, Peter attended St. Martin of Tours elementary school and remained a member of the St. Martin parish community through the years. Peter then attended Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville where he was a stand-out member of the school lacrosse team. Upon graduation he headed north to the Boston area where he studied business and finance at Bentley College, graduating just this past spring.

After graduation Peter and a few of his close friends spent four weeks traveling through Europe and returned home with wonderful stories and pictures of the places they had experienced. He has especially like to recount his adventure of hang-gliding in the Swiss Alps.

"He was the one who knew where every place was and who led us all around Europe," said Chris Heffernan, a friend of Peter’s who went on that trip.

Heffernan traveled into New York City every day with Peter and saw him only hours before the attack. They worked in the same building.

"As soon as the first plane hit, I left the building and kept calling him on the cell phone but couldn’t get through," said Chris. "He was a role model to me and if I could have just one of this many attributes, I would be a better person for it. I will miss him terribly."

Always the hard worker, Peter wasted little time getting into the "real world" work environment. He landed a job with Sandler & O’Neill where one of his uncles, Thomas O’Neill of Huntington is a partner. Peter’s office was located on the 104th floor of Two World Trade Center.

Peter was well-known in the Village of Amityville and was a member of the volunteer fire department for more than nine years where he joined as a junior fireman at age 12. In his spare time he enjoyed many interests including golf, snowboarding, fishing and boating. The number of Peter’s friends was all too evident by the cars lining the street outside of the O’Neill house in the days following the tragedy. On any given night, you would find anywhere from 40 to 90 people at their home praying for good news and offering their support to the family.

If you speak to anyone that knows Peter, nearly all make the same observation when contemplating his last minutes with us here on earth, said one family members: "You know Peter, even if they were evacuating the building, he was probably holding the door, making sure everyone was out safely or helping someone in need down the stairs." That’s the kind of person that Peter was and is how he will always be remembered.

A memorial mass was said at St. Martin of Tours R.C. Church, Amityville Saturday. The family has requested that donations in Peter’s name be made to the Peter J. O’Neill Jr. Memorial Fund, c/o Peter O’

Neill Sr., 2 Edan Crt. Amityville, NY 11701.