42nd Hall of Fame Induction - Graber Associates

WELLES CROWTHER ’99Athlete and True HeroTHE BOSTON COLLEGE VARSITY CLUB HALL OF FAMEPerhaps no Boston Collegegraduate has so completelyand heroically fulfilled theUniversity’s mission of “menand women for others” asWelles Remy Crowther ’99.Crowther, an economicsmajor and varsity lacrosseplayer as a BC undergraduate,was working as an equitiestrader for the investmentbanking firm of SandlerO’Neill and Partners, LP, atan office high up in the SouthTower of the World TradeCenter on Sept. 11, 2001,when the second planestruck the building at 9:03 a.m.Crowther, who was also a volunteerfirefighter in his hometownof Nyack, NY, wrapped histrademark red bandannaaround his face to help himbreathe through the smoke anddebris, and organized a rescueeffort to guide more than adozen survivors down the building’sstairwells to safety. Hetwice returned into the burningbuilding – once carrying aninjured woman down 17 floorsto safety – and then joining aNew York Fire Department teamon their way back up the towerto free victims still trappedunder debris. He was killedwhen the building collapsed at9:59 a.m.“That was the nature of WellesCrowther,” said his father,Jefferson Crowther. “The goodLord put him here knowing thathe would be needed at somepoint. And, when the time came,Welles stepped up. He did whathe had to do and he did it well.There is nothing else I can say.”The Welles Remy CrowtherTrust has been established inhis memory. “We make grantsand gifts to organizations thatwork with young people to helpthose young people becomeexemplary adults,” JeffersonCrowther said. One of the manyrecipients of the benefits of thetrust is Boston College’sVolunteer and Service LearningCenter.“Welles loved helping youngfolks,” Jefferson Crowther said.“Before he was working on WallStreet, he volunteered as a tenniscounselor and coach at aday camp for indigent kids inour community. When he was atBC, he was a member of thestudent athletes’ group thatworked as big brothers in theBoston community. He justloved doing it.“Anything he could do towork with young kids andhelp them along, he wasdelighted to do.”“Boston College was such anincredibly huge and influentialpart of his young life,”said his mother, AlisonCrowther. “His experiencesthere truly forged the finecharacter of the young manas fully as we could havewished as loving parents.”“I can tell you that Wellesloved Boston College,”Jefferson Crowther said. “Heloved it deeply. He would oftentell his BC roommates, ‘When Imake millions of dollars, I amgoing to endow a chair in theeconomics department or payfor a building or something.’ Healways thought that would behis legacy.“But, no,” he said softly. “Hislegacy is what he did in the lasthour of his life.”The seventh annual "WellesRemy Crowther Red BandannaRun" will be held on campus onOct. 15, 2011. It is sponsoredby the Boston CollegeVolunteer and Service LearningCenter and in support of theWelles Remy CrowtherCharitable Trust.47