Unforgoten Histories

Amy Toyen, 24 years old, North Tower 106th floor

Amy Toyen was born to Martin and Dorine Toyen. She had an older sister, Heather. She grew up in Avon, MA, and lived in Newton, MA, in adulthood. Amy attended and graduated from Avon High School in 1995 and Bentley College in 1999. In 2001, she worked in Boston and was considering returning to art school. Amy was a passionate artist who sketched and drew meticulously. She also loved traveling and playing piano. She was a cheerful person, described by her friends and family as kind, caring, happy, and a “ray of sunshine”. Amy loved her job and had an especially exciting event ahead of her, which was her marriage to her loving boyfriend and sweetheart, Jeffrey Gonski, planned for June 16, 2002. They had met at Bentley College and became engaged in Ireland in April. Jeffrey had surprised Amy with a trip to Canada but handed her an itinerary for a trip to Ireland at the airport. They had a beautiful and romantic vacation, staying in Kathleen’s Country House, and visiting the Gap of Dunloe, where Jeffrey popped the question. Amy excitedly accepted, planned her engagement party for October 26th, made their guest list of 200 people, and had just found her perfect wedding dress. On September 9th, Amy called her parents to tell them she was going on a business trip to New York City early Tuesday morning. Her father told her “Have fun, be safe, I love you.”

Amy worked in marketing for Thomson Financial, a financial firm located in Boston, MA. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Amy flew to New York City to represent the firm in a trade show at Windows on the World, the restaurant located on the 106th and 107th floors of the World Trade Center’s North Tower. She was there to demonstrate one of the company’s new software products, and had done a coin-toss with her co-worker to decide who should attend the conference. When Flight 11 struck the North Tower, Amy was setting up her display on the 106th floor, which was left above the impassable impact zone. Sadly, no one working at or attending either floor of Windows on the World survived the attack, including Amy.