9/11 Cross Now in Public Prayer Room at St. James Church

A metal cross fashioned from steel beams at the World Trade Center and a plaque engraved with the names of 25 Basking Ridge residents who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attack were installed Sunday afternoon in a public prayer room at St. James Church in Basking Ridge.

Somerset County Surrogate Frank Bruno, a former metalworker and Navy veteran who assisted with the cleanup of the World Trade Center site after it was destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, said he has spent nine years wondering where the cross would find a permanent home.

He said Bernards Mayor Scott Spitzer suggested St. James Church in Basking Ridge, since the church had lost parishioners in the attack, and had played a key role in dealing with families whose lives were turned upside down by the tragedy.

During a 3 p.m. ceremony at the church on Sunday, Bruno thanked the church's Rev. Glenn Comandini for accepting the cross, and arranging for it to be on display in a September 11 Oratory, a prayer room that will be open to anyone from the public.

"It's been with me for nine years, and it's gotten a tour," Bruno said of the 16-inch high cross. The cross already has been publicly displayed in county buildings, area churches and libraries, and has been privately prayed over in the homes of survivors of those killed on 9/11, Bruno said.

Of the 39 Somerset County residents counted as having been killed that day, Bruno said Bernards Township had the largest number of victims.

A plaque acquired with the assistance of Susan Picarro, whose husband, Ludwig J. Picarro, was one of the township residents who perished in the attack, was unveiled at the same time, according to the church bulletin. The plaque lists names of those killed who were current or previous township residents at the time of the attack.

Both were placed in the prayer room, near the entrance to the older section of the church at 184 S. Finley Ave. The prayer room will be open to anyone from the public on most days from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Comandini previously said.

"It's my prayer that this oratory will be a place of hope and healing," the church's pastor said in a service before about 70 people, including family members of those killed. 

"I wanted to create a sacred space where people living in the township could come and spend time in quiet reflection regardless of their religious affiliation," Comandini said. "I know there is still a lot of pain in the hearts of the survivors."

Comandini said he is sure there are many times when the family members, especially the spouses of those killed, would like to call their loved ones and ask them what to do in times of trouble, when children are unruly, when important decisions must be made or when they feel lonely.

Despite outward appearances of having moved on, there remains a gaping hole for those who lost a child, grandchild, friend or other close loved one, the pastor said. He said he hopes the prayer room will provide peace and hope for those people, with the cross serving as a tangible reminder of life on the other side of death.

Spitzer said the World Trade Center attack was "this generation's Pearl Harbor," and urged the crowd to remain steadfast in resisting terrorism.

Because the township lost so many of its residents, Spitzer said he considers Basking Ridge to be an extension of the Ground Zero site.

Township resident Eileen Hannaford, whose husband, Kevin J. Hannaford, was among those killed, said she thought the presentation of the cross to St. James was a fantastic gift.

"It's definitely in the right place," she said. "We all came together here, and we still come together here," Hannaford said.

Those who had attended the ceremony later filed into the small prayer room for a closer look at the cross, the plaque, and perhaps to say a prayer while on a small kneeler in front of the cross.

Township resident Mike Kelker said he was thankful to recall how close his son, also named Mike Kelker, had come to being among the victims. 

Kelker said his son had been working on Sept. 10 installing a computer system in one of the offices completely destroyed by the plane crash into that floor. He said his son was still hard at work at 9 p.m. and, unbeknownst to his father, decided to continue working until midnight rather than finishing up the next day.

Kelker said he believed his son might be in the office, and watched on television as the two towers collapsed into rubble. He said his heart stopped.

Kelker said he arrived home to a phone message from his son that the younger Kelker had slept in and was on his way to work when the attack began.

Bruno also described the rescue scene, and recalled family members waving photographs and asking rescuers if they had seen their loved ones.