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.......Flight attendant who missed fatal Sept. 11 flight dies in car crash
By MARK HAYWARD
Union Leader Staff
Marilyn Gates, 52, was pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, where she was taken after the collision. The accident took place about 10:30 p.m. Saturday in Denton County, northwest of Dallas.
Gates was a flight attendant whose life was spared 4½ years ago when she missed an American Airlines flight hijacked by terrorists and flown into the World Trade Center.
She was in Texas to attend a wedding, said her brother-in-law, Manchester resident Paul Porter.
"She was a terrific person, kind of a take-charge individual. She was very giving of herself, particularly in family matters," said Porter, a former Manchester alderman.
The Sept. 11 tragedy upset her deeply, given the death of the airline passengers and her colleagues.
"She knew them all, because that was her regular crew," Porter said.
Gates was in the back seat of a 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis struck while traveling through an intersection, said Lisa Block, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Block said the car was driven by Eugene Cordes, a selectman in Fremont. Also riding in the car was Fremont selectman Donald Gates, Marilyn Gates' husband.
Both were treated for minor injuries and released from Texas hospitals, Block said.
Two other Fremont residents were hospitalized. Beverly Brooks, a Realtor, was listed in stable condition yesterday at Presbyterian Hospital of Plano.
Griffin Cordes, 17, a student at Trinity High School in Manchester, was listed in serious but stable condition last night at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, according to a nursing supervisor on duty.
The accident took place at the intersection of Hebron Parkway and Marsh Lane, Block said.
Stephen Mole of Keller, Texas, was westbound in his 1999 Ford Expedition when he disregarded a stop light and entered the intersection, Block said. He was also exceeding the speed limit, she said.
The SUV struck the sedan, which spun counter-clockwise. Two passengers were thrown from the Grand Marquis, she said.
Block said the Texas Highway Patrol is investigating the incident. She did not know yesterday if any charges or motor vehicle violations had been issued against Mole.