Sept. 11 ceremony at PHS honors Hague, other victims
The Parkersburg High School Naval Junior ROTC prepares for the raising of the flag Monday during the school’s annual Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
The Parkersburg High School A Capella Choir sings the national anthem Monday at the school’s annual Sept. 11 ceremony. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Parkersburg High School Principal Kenneth Demoss talks about being in his classroom during the events of Sept. 11, 2001, while Mayor Tom Joyce listens. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
The Parkersburg High School Naval Junior ROTC prepares for the raising of the flag Monday during the school’s annual Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
The Parkersburg High School A Capella Choir sings the national anthem Monday at the school’s annual Sept. 11 ceremony. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Parkersburg High School Principal Kenneth Demoss talks about being in his classroom during the events of Sept. 11, 2001, while Mayor Tom Joyce listens. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
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PARKERSBURG -- People gathered in front of Parkersburg High School Monday morning as the school held its Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony to honor graduate Mary Lou Hague and all those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"One of those people who lost their lives that day on the 89th floor of the South Tower was Mary Lou Hague," Principal Kenneth Demoss said. "And we do pay a lot of respect to her. She was a kind soul, with a fantastic smile, and she was highly involved and she made a great career for herself."
Born and raised in Parkersburg, Hague was amongthe nearly 3,000 victims of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., as well as a hijacked plane that crashed in a Pennsylvania field. A 1992 Parkersburg High graduate, Hague was a financial research analyst for an investment banking firm and worked on the 89th floor of Tower Two.
"I had the privilege of meeting Mary Lou Hague in the fall of 1986," Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce said. "She sat behind me in homeroom."
Joyce said all the things people have heard about Hague and her kind nature, her gentle spirit, her beautiful singing voice, her academic prowess and more are all true. He said two years ago a monument was place at Bicentennial Park, inside of Government Square, with a piece of the structural steel from the Trade Centers honoring Hague and others who lost their lives that day.
He encouraged everyone, especially the young students in attendance, to visit the monument.
"There's a lovely inscription on the back, and I think it's a fine testament to not just the attacks on 9/11, but also to Mary Lou, as well," Joyce said.
Joyce said there were many ways to pay tribute and that he does so every fall by planting tulips. He said if students wanted to pay tribute and honor Hague's memory they should take it upon themselves to be better students, better friends, better siblings, better sons and daughters and better citizens.
The best way students can pay tribute to Hague would "Be better Big Reds," Joyce said.
"Because Mary Lou was exceptional, and top notch in all of those things," Joyce said. "Take a few moments today, and think about what you can do to be a better person. Because I can't think of anyone who was more special, or just a general better person, than Mary Lou Hague."
Demoss said he hoped students never have to experience the events of that day. He told them not to forget about love.
"Love is what binds us, it's what makes us human, love is not just that fluttering feeling you get with your significant other. It's a bond that's forever among all walks of life," Demoss said. "Mary Lou definitely loved her friends, and she loved the people around her."