He stayed behind to help people out of the WTC
Family of Edward Strauss recalls the gentle giant
BY JAY BODAS
Staff Writer

Edward Strauss

Edward Strauss is remembered as a big man with a big heart.

Memories are all his family and friends have left because Strauss, an Edison resident, was killed five years ago on Sept. 11.

That day, in a coordinated terrorist attack, 19 hijackers crashed four planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in rural Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Edward was the Port Authority's operations chief at the World Trade Center. He chose to remain inside even after the collapse of the first tower to help coordinate the evacuation of those still trapped inside.

Strauss, 44, left behind his wife, Jane, and his two sons, Eddie and Justin. Jane still lives on a side street off Tingley Lane in Edison.

He was also the oldest of seven siblings: four boys and three girls.

Jane and Edward's sisters Barbara, Theresa and Gia gathered together during a recent weekend to remember their much-loved husband and brother.

"Edward was 6-foot-1 with a 22-inch neck," Theresa said. "His thighs were the size of tree trunks, and he had a shirt specially made for him because of his size. But once you got past the rough exterior ... he wanted you to think he was a big tough guy, but he wasn't at all that."

"He looked very intimidating at first glance," Gia said. "We are not an easy family to come into, and my husband's description was that he looked to be the biggest and scariest guy, but he was also the easiest and kindest one once you got to know him."

The family still remembers the night when their brother Ed led them to the top of the Twin Towers, long before Sept. 11, so that they could see a fireworks show from an entirely new perspective.

"He took us to the roof of the buildings so that we were actually higher up than the fireworks, so we could look down on them from above," said Theresa, who still lives in the same Iselin house she and her siblings grew up in.

"He led us to a door that looked like it belonged at the bottom of a ship, not a building," she said. "The door led to the outside of the building, where there was a ledge with no railing ... we had to shimmy around, and I spent most of the time kissing the wall. Those were the kinds of things he would take people to see."

"We saw parts of the building most people never saw," agreed Gia.

His firsthand knowledge of the towers came from his 15 years of working at the World Trade Center site.

Edward was on the scene the day of the original 1993 World Trade Center bombing, when six lives were lost. His office was next door to one of those killed: his friend Monica Rodriguez Smith, who was six months pregnant at the time.

"For weeks afterward, he stayed in a hotel in the city helping with the aftermath," Barbara said.

"But in the years following, he never talked about it."

His role in the rescue effort that day is documented in the book "Perpetual Motion" by Joe Mysak.

"Supervisor Ed Strauss was sitting at the operations desk on the B1 level when the ceiling collapsed and the subterranean office was plunged into darkness," reads a line from the book. "Finding a flashlight, he searched the rubble for the injured and helped clear the truck dock for the arrival of emergency equipment.

"When emergency personnel arrived, Strauss re-entered the building with firefighters to obtain the necessary door keys.

"Strauss advised firefighters of the best way to gain access to various sections of the building, which helped to expedite the evacuation of the towers and eliminated the need to cut through dozens of doors that had been locked for security reasons," according to the book.

"We didn't even know of the book until after Sept. 11, as he didn't talk to anyone about it because that was his way," Theresa said.

By the time of the 9/11 attacks, Edward had been interviewing for a different job with the Port Authority, away from the World Trade Center site. That day, he was on the site voluntarily to assist in the property's transition to new ownership.

That morning, Jane was returning home from her night shift position, also with the Port Authority.

"I had worked that night, and I was about to go to bed ... but then I didn't sleep for three days," she said.

The family saw the towers burn and fall on the television newscasts. They knew at the moment of the towers' collapse that there was a strong likelihood that Edward was inside of one of them.

"I turned on the TV, and that was when the first tower hit," she said. "I called his office, which was in the second tower, and I asked his secretary if she was all right. She said she was trying to stay calm."

At one point, Jane was able to briefly speak to her husband on the phone.

"He had called me by the time the second tower had been hit," she said. "He asked me if I knew what was going on, and he said 'I'm busy' and 'I'll talk to you later.' That was it. That was the last time I spoke to him."

She later came to learn that Edward was manning a command center inside the second tower when it fell.

"The last time one of my husband's bosses spoke to him on the radio, he was on the command desk in Tower Two," she said. "That was his post, and he was supposed to coordinate the evacuation. It would have been very easy for him to leave, but he likely thought it was his duty to help evacuate those people. He never ran away from anything."

The first days and weeks after 9/11 were the most difficult.

"The waiting was horrible, because while you knew in your heart, there was always that glimmer of hope," Theresa said. "We waited weeks ... and some of us moved on quicker than others."

"I knew the longer it went on, the less likely it was that he was coming home," Jane said.

The first two weeks she had people come and stay with her, including her sister from California.

"On the flight over, my sister sat next to a man who was complaining about how his business was suffering as a result of the attacks," Jane said. "In return, she mentioned she was going home because her sister's husband didn't come home from the attack. He didn't talk the rest of the flight."

Five years later, the family is still adjusting to a life without Edward.

"You get on with your life, but it's not the same," Jane said. "I always had a nice, content life, and then it got turned upside down. That's what people don't understand. I had a nice life, and it was ruined. So I had to adjust, turn around, and make myself a new life."

"We laugh a lot," Theresa said. "Years later, it's all right, but it's not OK. Does it get easier? No."

The family waited until July 2003 before they held a memorial service for Edward at St. Cecilia's Church in Iselin.

"They have his portrait in the back along with three other victims who were members of the church," Jane said.

In the years following, the family established a nonprofit organization, With Eddie's Help, in his memory, which provides financial assistance to the disabled and homeless. The organization also contributes to the Woodbridge Patrolman's Benevolent Association and to educational scholarships at JFK High School, Edward's alma mater.

"The staff is our family and friends," Theresa said. "Nothing goes to salary, everything goes to the purpose of the organization. We want to keep his name out there and his memory alive."

The family will be holding their fourth annual Summer's Last Call beach party benefit to raise money for the organization at Martell's Tiki Bar in Point Pleasant on Sept. 8 from 7-11 p.m. The cost is $75 per person for an open bar, barbecue buffet, and live DJ. Call Theresa Wood at (732) 283-0449 or go to www.witheddieshelp.org for more information.