A

t 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 was accredited by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. Mrs. Gibbon spent 17 years at Wausau Insurance before going to work at AON 2 ½ 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 was held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2001 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.