Herbert W. Homer

1976 liberal arts graduate, Milford, Massachusetts

by Karen Feldscher
December 11, 2001
The Northeastern University Voice

 

Herbert Homer planned his proposal to Karen Pond very carefully. Christmastime, in front of the fireplace. “Miracles,” a Kenny G. song, playing in the background. Even the special wineglasses, purchased in Las Vegas after Karen admired them, were ready.


Herb Homer, shown with wife Karen, was great with kids.

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Unsure whether Karen, with her allergies to gold and silver, could wear a traditional engagement ring, Homer decided to give her a beautiful figurine instead, popping the question as she unwrapped the gift. When Karen took her time with the package, Homer had to encourage her to just “rip it open.” She did, he proposed, she accepted — all before “Miracles” stopped playing.

That was Homer, his wife recalls, laughing softly. “He was a planner, a perfectionist,” she says. “Anything he did was done thoroughly and well, with a great deal of thought and attention to detail.”

The man Karen Homer calls “her world” died aboard United Airlines Flight 175. “He was the best thing that ever happened in my life,” she says quietly.

Close to 1,000 people attended his memorial service at the First Congregational Church, says his wife. “I knew he was special,” she says. “Now I know that he was special to a lot of other people, too.”

A political science major at Northeastern, Homer, 48, worked 27 years, starting as a co-op student, at the Defense Department’s Defense Contract Management Agency, most recently as a corporate executive at Raytheon.

In mid-November, along with four other Raytheon employees who died aboard jets hijacked Sept. 11, Homer received the Pentagon’s Defense of Freedom medal, the civilian equivalent of the Purple Heart. Karen attended the ceremony, along with Homer’s parents, William and Winifred; brother Stephen and his wife, Paula; and nephew Raymond Tiberio.

Homer had fond memories of his alma mater. He was trying to talk a niece into studying at Northeastern, and was planning to visit campus himself to see all the changes of the past decade.

Karen, who met her husband about seven years ago at church, says he was compassionate and giving, but never sought to call attention to his contributions. He was active in the Jaycees, served as a Special Olympics coach and volunteered in the church’s crib room.

“He was wonderful with the little ones,” Karen recalls. “They knew what I know — that they were safe and loved in his arms. When he would lie on the floor, the toddlers would be crawling all over him. He was in his glory with the kids.”


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September 11th Memorial Scholarship Fund

Northeastern University

346 Richards Hall

325 Huntington Ave.

Boston, MA 02115

 

© Copyright 2001

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