On Thursday, December 21 at 2:03 p.m. EST, the Syracuse University community gathered in person and virtually for the annual Pan Am Flight 103 memorial service. The service, hosted b the Dean and Chaplains of Hendricks Chapel in partnership with the Office of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving and the Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholars, honored the 270 people, including Syracuse University study abroad students, who were killed when Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed by a terrorist bomb over Lockerbie, Scotland on that date and time 35 years ago. A recording of the service is available below.

 

Remembrances for the 2023 Pan Am Flight 103 Memorial Service

The following remembrances were submitted by members of the Syracuse University and Lockerbie, Scotland communities, and family and friends of the victims of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing in advance of the 2023 annual memorial service hosted virtually by Hendricks Chapel on Dec. 21.

#neverforget
Linda Epstein
Class of 1989

As a student of SU, I also spent the semester abroad in London through DIPA in 1983. I felt a great pain when the bombing happened in 1988. I now work for the Pan Am 103 Lockerbie Legacy Foundation.
Alice Bernard
Class of 1985

As her teammate out of the NY/ NJ area and then at Syracuse on the volleyball team, I will always remember the talented, kind, dedicated, wonderful, fun-loving person Alexia Tsairis was on and off the court. Warm memories of her amazing parents stick with me long after our days at SU together.
Joanne Persico-Smith
Class of 1987

At this time of year, I always think about and remember my classmates who we tragically lost on that day.
Aron Post
Class of 1990

Every single student from the Drama Department was as unique as they were talented. They were hard working and filled with laughter and love. They will always live on in my heart.
Cachelle Guadagnino
Class of 1989

Five Apples, Gary. Never forget. Always Orange. We carry on their spirits each day.
Andrew Lill
Class of 1990

God bless all those who lost their lives on Pan Am 103, and bless those family and friends, airline staff and first responders in Scotland who experienced an unforgettable tragedy. I attended the London program in the fall semester of 1984, and so feel an eerie kinship with those students who didn’t make it back. They taught us you really can’t take anything for granted.
Janice Convery
Class of 1985

I continue to be deeply honored to have been a 2006-2007 Remembrance Scholar and feel very fortunate to have traveled to Lockerbie in 2017 while I was teaching abroad in Scotland. I think often of Karen Lee Hunt and her family.
Kathryn Santos
Class of 2007

I had the honor of being a Remembrance Scholar.
Cara Cortazzo
Class of 2001

I had the honor of representing Julianne Frances Kelly in the 2007-08 school year. This is a portion of Julianne’s poetry that deeply moved me: Orb. We are like the night snow that dances through the silvery orb of streetlight then is lost. Think of me as night snow that, in turn, danced through the silvery orb of the streetlight then was lost in soft darkness.
Julianne Pepitone Caughel
Class of 2008

I remember being on campus that day. I was living in University Arms and had just finished my last final that day when I heard the tragic news. It was so surreal. It’s hard to believe that 35 years has gone by.
William August
Class of 1991

I was a good friend of Nicole Boulanger. I saw her in her last performance before leaving for a semester abroad. When I saw/heard what happened I cannot explain the horrible pain I felt in my heart and soul. I went home for Christmas break and fell into a deep depression. I remember my father saying “get over it” and I replied “a friend of mine and too many more are not coming back because of terrorists. How do you just get over that?” I have not and will not let the memory of her go away. She is still here because I will not forget.
Brian Cabelof
Class of 1989

I was a neighbor to Bob Hunt whose daughter was on the flight.
Stephen Hollis
Class of 1987

I was a young reporter, SU Newhouse educated, and on the morning after the downing of Pan Am flight 103, I went to interview the father of one of the SU students who was killed. He lived in the small upstate NY town where I worked. I will never forget how gracious he was with me, and how he did the interview because he wanted his daughter to be remembered – her life to be celebrated. I will never forget that experience. And the devastating sadness of a life cut short that I still feel today.
Marianne Worley
Class of 1984

I was at Syracuse my first semester when the bombing took place. I ended up becoming a Remembrance Scholar which has been one of the great honors of my life.
Karen Iannella
Class of 1992

I was fortunate to work alongside Karen Hunt in the Schine Student Center. She always had a smile. And Sandy Phillips was my neighbor on South Campus – always encouraging me to get involved with public service. He had such a wonderful personality!
Jennifer Trice
Class of 1990

I will never forget my London flat roommates Rick Monetti and Alex Lowenstein as well as all the other students in our DIPA program. May they all be of blessed memory.
Benjamin Podolnick
Class of 1990

In memory of Gary Colasanti. A terrific guy I knew from our time together as freshmen and sophomores in Sadler Hall. He lost his life tragically on Pan Am Flight 103… RIP.
Jonathan Kaplan
Class of 1990

In the name of peace in the world.
Amir Soltanzadeh
Class of 1985

It was Christmas time, and many SU folks had either already left for the holidays or like me, was planning on leaving soon. I was on campus when we received the news that we had lost students in this terrorist attack. Most of us made our way to Hendricks Chapel like zombies for prayer and comfort for ourselves and each other. We were all affected-either we knew someone who was killed or we knew someone who knew someone who was on that plane. The pain of tremendous, profound loss was palpable. I will never forget that day nor the collective sorrow experienced. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity on that fateful day to come together to pray for our fellow students, their families and each other.
Dannielle Brantley
Class of 1987

Joining with Francis Parks to create the Remembrance quilt in 1998 remains one of the most precious and meaningful experiences in my life. I’m humbled to be part of the Remembrance community and to continue to honor the students whose lives were taken on Flight 103.
Kimberly Hamilton
Class of 1999

Karen Hunt you will never be forgotten.
Derrin Horton
Class of 1991

May their memories be a reminder to us to live every day with gratitude.
Nancy Reilly
Class of 1990

My heart goes out to all those who were affected by this tragic event.
Dayna Stueck
Class of 1987

My neighbor Sue was on the flight. We used to live next to each other on Winding Ridge. May she rest in peace.
Azalia Volpe
Class of 1989

Never forget.
Christopher Lawrence
Class of 1989

Our daughter Courtney Hrdy ’20 (Maxwell) and ’22 (iSchool) and son James Hrdy (’26 ECS) and their father and I would like to participate virtually. Their father and I were in college and remember vividly the tragedy of Pan Am 103 – I was myself a junior in college. We grieve for the families and so appreciate Syracuse University keeping their memories alive. We were on campus last year for the Remembrance Scholar ceremony in Hendricks and were so moved.
Alice Hrdy

Remembering and honoring our sweet, forever-young-and-vibrant, fabulous friends.
Lauren Jordahl
Class of 1989

Remembering especially Wendy Ann Lincoln.
Jessica Kershaw
Class of 2007

Remembering the classmates we lost in this terrible tragedy. Their memory will live on.
Lawrence Hryb
Class of 1989

Thank you for keeping alive the spirits and memories of those who perished in the Pan Am 103 bombing. We lost our family friend, Christopher Andrew Jones, yet he is always close in our hearts.
Jennifer Kovalich
Class of 1993

This happened before I enrolled as an undergrad in 1989. Seeing such a large school come together as a community helped me make my decision to attend. I’ve been fortunate to know a Remembrance Scholar and she is the best and brightest of our class. I appreciate the commitment and witness SU makes every year to keep those lost very much still part of the school community.
Mary Barnett
Class of 1990

Those lost will never be forgotten.
Kelly Morton
Class of 1990

Thoughts and prayers for Suzanne Miazga’s family. Suzanne and I were classmates in the MSW program. She is missed.
Sharon Topp
Class of 1991

We must remember well. Grateful for the opportunity to do so in community.
Elizabeth Testa
Class of 1989

We remember them.
Maureen Fitzgerald
We will never forget our friends from the London ’88 program. We love you and miss you.
Lynn Schnarr-Mulle
Class of 1990

Wendy Lincoln was my good friend and we spent time together at Syracuse dancing and performing with Dance Works. We choreographed a dance piece and I will always cherish those moments from college.
Rebecca Cornelius
Class of 1988

While the years go by, the memories of the friends I/we lost are never forgotten.
Cheryl Lasse
Class of 1990

Will never forget being on campus that day and so many of us still being made to complete our finals (Arts and Ideas) – so much loss and so many press taking pictures of our shock and grief on the Quad and in Hendricks Chapel. So sad – will never forget this terrorist attack which should never have been labeled a plane crash.
Betsy Stevens
Class of 1992

The students and others who lost their lives at Lockerbie are always in my thoughts, especially at this time of year. It was great to meet many of you when you visited Scotland earlier this year. Much love from Scotland.
Ian Stevens

Kesha Weedon and her family are on my mind constantly. I would like to send all my love and warm wishes to her mom and extended family.
Alaina Mallette
Class of 2013

“To lose someone you love is to alter your life forever. You don’t get over it because ‘it’ is the person you loved. The pain stops, there are new people, but the gap never closes. How could it? The particularness of someone who mattered enough to grieve over is not made anodyne by death. This hole in my heart is in the shape of you and no-one else can fit it. Why would I want them to?” (Jeanette Winterson)
Perrin Joel Lumbert
Class of 1990

Amy Shapiro will always be my light and I remember her with smiles, a bounce in her step and such a caring heart. I aspire to be like her and think about her every day.
Michele Hennessy
Class of 1989

I remember the day it happened, and the new hit me hard as I had been studying in London just four years earlier (fall 1984). Although I didn’t know anyone on the flight, friends of mine did. Never forget!
Kathleen Layng
Class of 1986

I attended University of Rochester and was studying abroad with two students who were on the flight.
Diane Reid Lyon

I’m thankful the SU London Abroad program brings students on a special trip to Lockerbie, Scotland to remember what happened and to interact with people in the community who are still impacted.
Jodi Carr
2018 Master of Science

I feel the pain associated with the loss of our colleagues. May we continue to keep them in our hearts, as part of our SU family.
Geraldine Boyd-Whitehead
1979 Master of Social Work

“I often wonder if he was scared at the last moment or if he just simply accepted death. He never talked much about his feelings of death. ‘Where do we all go? Is there life-after-life?’ We found the only answer to his feelings in a quotation stashed between his political speeches that we filed away. ‘Be of good cheer about death and know this of a truth, that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death.’” From A Good Man, written by Alexia Tsairis about her grandfather’s passing. 2018-2019 Remembrance Scholar – Looking back and acting forward in honor of Alexia Tsairis and all victims of PA103.
Danielle Schaf
Class of 2019

Remembering my dear friend, Steve Boland, on the 35th anniversary of this tragic and horrendous event. Sending wishes for peace to his family and friends. He was one of a kind and will continue to be remembered as long as I breathe – for eternity through the SU archives. Thank you to everyone who pulls this together each year for those of us who can’t attend in person. God bless.
Amy Tucker
Class of 1988

As an alumna of Syracuse, class of ’86, I keep in my thoughts and prayers all the Syracuse students and their families remembered here today and all those in general impacted by this tragedy many years ago. My wish is for peace for all, and for our world this holiday season.
Amy Kauffman Sweeney
Class of 1986