In Memory of

Josephine V. Brune

March 27, 2015

Obituary

It is with a heavy heart that we must inform you that Josephine Brune, former employee of Port Authority (Travel Office) has passed away. During her professional career, she also worked in travel for Morgan Stanley, Grumman and the Ford Foundation.

Josephine joined the Tribute Center as a volunteer in 2009. Meri Lobel, our curator, who worked most closely with Josephine said “Josephine worked with the curatorial department for several years, coming in to the office once a week to help catalogue the visitor cards. Josephine helped select cards for several exhibits and for our book, 9/11: The World Speaks. She was so thoughtful and meticulously organized in this process. What I appreciated equally was that she brought a joyful, warm spirit to the office, and her conversations made everyone smile.”

The Funeral Mass for Josephine was held on Saturday, March 28, at Our Lady of Pompeii Church in Greenwich Village.

We recorded Josephine’s oral history in 2010. Here is an excerpt:
“In June of 1958 I was hired by The Port Authority. At that time we were located at 111 8th Avenue…..When we moved to the 73rd floor of the World Trade Center, the scariest part of all was going up the elevators. I mean, the thought of going to the 44th floor, changing elevators and going to 73 was just beyond me. As a matter of fact, the first day that we started in our new office, I remember calling upstairs to my supervisor, and I said,” Neil, I can’t go up those elevators by myself. I made the poor fellow come all the way downstairs, hold my hand and take me back up. And then after that of course, I was ok…. When we worked in 111 8th Avenue, we were one family, everybody knew everybody…. When we moved to One World Trade, we were split up…. There were just so many different levels where people were working and we weren’t all in the same elevator bank…. So you could go weeks without seeing that people that you grew up with….. You’d meet somebody and say “I haven’t seen you in years.” But I loved working in the World Trade Center. I liked to be able to go shopping at lunch. I liked the fact that on the main level downstairs there was always something going on…. I liked the fact that my office faced the Statue of Liberty. The best part to me was, in the evening, going to the north side of the building and watching the lights of the city come on. It was just breathtaking. And on Friday nights after work, a whole bunch of us would go up to Windows on the World, sit and have a drink. It was just a wonderful time to be there.”