Santa Monicans Are Among Attacks’ Victims

Clara Sturak
Associate editor

   At the time of this writing, there are 608 confirmed fatalities of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., 5,422 still missing. Of the confirmed dead, two were Santa Monica residents, another a longtime employee at a local Santa Monica retailer.
   All three were aboard airplanes, returning home from vacations or business trips. None would make it back. These three people, in different stages of life, with different careers and varied backgrounds, had one thing in common –- they were beloved by their families, friends and coworkers as giving, caring, outgoing members of the community. Each has been described as a “people person.” All will be remembered.
   Dora Menchaca, 45, was aboard American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon. She lived in Santa Monica with her husband and four-year-old son. Her 18-year-old daughter began college at the University of Portland this year.
   Menchaca held a Ph.D. in epidemiology from UCLA. She was a team leader in clinical research at Amgen, Inc. – a biotechnology firm in Thousand Oaks. “Dora was a very experienced and talented woman,” says Dr. David Goodkin, Vice President of Clinical Research at Amgen. Menchaca coordinated the design, implementation and interpretation of clinical trials to test new drugs. Says Goodkin, “Her job required not only scientific smarts, but leadership, and administrative ability. She was a people person, very beloved by her team members and co-workers.”
   Goodkin fondly remembers Menchaca as being “strongly maternal,” looking after not only her husband and children, but her co-workers as well. “She would remind all of the men, including me, how important it was to get prostate screenings, since she had worked on a trial [for a drug to treat prostate cancer],” Goodkin adds. “She was very upbeat, very devoted to trying to advance science, particularly to find drugs to treat cancer. We miss her already.”
   Administrators at Grant Elementary School, where Menchaca’s son has just begun kindergarten, say that more than 500 people attended a candlelight vigil in honor of Menchaca and the other victims of the terrorist attacks. Says Vice Principal Carol Shafer, “we heard wonderful things about her at the vigil, that she was a beautiful person, always with a smile on her face.”
   Amgen has set up an education fund for Menchaca’s young son. Individuals wishing to make a gift to the trust should make the check payable to: “LaSalle Bank Trustee for the Jaryd A. Dorsey Educational Trust.” Checks should be mailed to: LaSalle Bank, Trustee for the Jaryd A. Dorsey Educational Trust, c/o Waltraud Klein, 135 S. LaSalle Street, Room 1925, Chicago, IL 60603.
   Carolyn Beug, 48, was on American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. Beug was an independent filmmaker and video producer, and was in the process of writing a children’s book.
   But those who remember Beug remember her as foremost a person who cared about kids, particularly the members of Santa Monica High School’s cross-country and track teams. Beug’s twin daughters were star athletes on the teams. She also survived by her husband and 13 year-old son.
   Beug was returning home with her mother, Mary Alice Wahlstrom of Utah, from a trip to settle her daughters into college life at the Rhode Island School of Design when her plane was hijacked.
   Tania Fischer, an art teacher and cross country/track coach at Santa Monica High School, considers Beug “a personal friend.” Fischer describes Beug as “an inspiration. It was great for the kids to see someone who was so generous and kind. She was a real role model.” Fischer says that Beug attended every cross-country and track meet, always bringing with her big bags of bagels or oranges for the team. She hosted all team banquets at her home and paid for everything, refusing to accept any other option. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer,” says Fischer. If a team member could not afford shoes, Beug would buy a pair, without hesitation. “She said it was her way of giving back,” Fisher adds.
   Beug was known as “Mama Bunny” to Samohi track team members, a nickname she got after accidentally yelling “Go Bunny!” during one of her daughter’s races. In her honor, the Samohi Cross Country and Track teams will wear a bunny patch on their uniforms this season. (For more on Carolyn Beug, see Samohi Tears at Memorial, page 18.)
   Ronald Gamboa, 33, was aboard United Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles, which crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center, killing all 65 on board. He was returning to his home in the Hollywood Hills with his partner of 14 years, Daniel Brandenhorst, and their adopted three-year-old son, David.
   Gamboa was the manager of the Gap store on Wilshire Boulevard and 20th Street in Santa Monica. Born in Anchorage, Kentucky, Gamboa moved to New York City, where he met Brandenhorst. The two moved to Los Angeles a few years later.
   “It’s quite a loss for us, he was a member of our family,” says Debbie Gardner, a Gap, Inc. spokesperson. Gamboa had been a Gap employee since 1991, and was known as an outgoing and friendly coworker, always ready with a joke. At the request of his family, Gap employees have been asked to limit their comments, but an official Gap, Inc. release states, “Ron has made a tremendous contribution to Gap. His sense of humor and love for life will be missed by all.” A makeshift memorial for Ronald Gamboa stands outside the Wilshire Boulevard Gap.