Luke A. Dudek
(1951 - September 11, 2001) U.S.A.
September 11th victim
Luke was forever proud to work at Windows on the World, where he was the food and beverage controller. He had a knack for numbers. Naturally, given the environment, he delighted in fine wine, and it was his custom when his wine glass was empty to remark to the waiter, "My tide is out."
But his special joy was Coqui Designs, the flower business he owned with his life partner, George A. Cuellar. (Coqui is George's nickname). George operated the place and was the creative mind behind the designs they did for stores like Bloomingdale's and Gucci, and for countless weddings. The numbers, though, were the province of Luke. "He did the books," George said. "He did my taxes. He even delivered flowers on the weekends and did weddings. I called him the core of the apple."
George said his partner loved the business so much that after years of renting space, this year they bought their own property for the business. He said Luke spent a week of vacation in September completing renovations. September 11th was supposed to be a day of happiness and achievement for Luke Dudek, 50, and his domestic partner of 20 years, George. His first day back to work in New York was September 11. Luke died in the attacks on the World Trade Center.
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