English
Every year on September 11, the names of 2,977 people killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks are read aloud at the World Trade Center site in New York. For Global News journalist Mike Armstrong, that moment carries a deeply personal weight. One of those names is Michael J. Armstrong — a name he shares, right down to the middle initial.
For more than two decades, the journalist wondered about the other Michael Armstrong. Who was he? What kind of life had he lived? Who had he left behind? Those questions eventually led to a visit with Michael’s family and a story that spans grief, resilience and remembrance.
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A Family Keeps His Memory Alive
Michael J. Armstrong was 34 years old on the morning of September 11, 2001. He worked in electronic trading on Wall Street for brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald. That morning, he was at his desk on the 104th floor of the North Tower — above the floors struck by American Airlines Flight 11.
After the plane hit the building, Michael tried to reach his family by phone. His sister Marian recalls that his final call went to their mother. The family’s copy of his phone records showed the call lasted two minutes. However, his mother could not make out his words. All she heard was static. The family has always hoped that, even though Michael could not be heard, he could hear his mother’s voice on the other end.
For hours that morning, his sisters held on to hope. They told themselves he might have been running late. They avoided turning on the television. “I really thought he was going to be OK,” Laura Armstrong recalled. “As crazy as it is.”
A Wedding That Never Happened
The weeks ahead were supposed to be among the happiest of Michael’s life. He and his fiancée, Catherine Nolan, planned to marry on October 6, 2001. Instead, his wake took place on September 23, 2001.
He had also come close to not being in the office that day. He attended a funeral the day before and missed work. Later that same week, he was scheduled to be off again for his bachelor party. “So many days that week he would not have been there,” his sister Marian said. Catherine added: “If he had only left a few days earlier, if he had a dentist appointment the next day.”
Those are the what-ifs that can follow a family for decades.
Catherine eventually married and had children. Her youngest son carries Michael as a middle name. She also never truly left the Armstrong family. Michael’s brother is godfather to one of her children, and his sisters remain a constant presence in her life. “I always joke that I’ve got the in-laws without the husband,” she said. Twenty-five years later, Catherine is still Aunt Catherine to the next generation of Armstrongs.
A Foundation Built on Loss
The Armstrong family chose to respond to their grief by helping others in Michael’s name. Within days of the attacks, they established a scholarship fund at Loyola School, where Michael had studied and remained an active alumnus. In the months that followed, they created the Michael J. Armstrong Memorial Foundation.
For nearly 25 years, the foundation has held fundraising events and supported causes connected to Michael’s life. These include scholarships at Loyola and athletics at Fordham University, where Michael was a passionate basketball fan. His sister describes the foundation as a place to channel the emotions that followed his death. It also ensured his story did not end on September 11, 2001.
The walls of Laura Armstrong’s home in Tappan, New York, are filled with family photos. Michael appears in many of them — Christmas mornings, Thanksgivings, St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Dozens more have been added over the past 25 years, marking milestones where his absence is impossible to ignore. “There are a lot of instances where we think that,” Laura said. “Where he should have been.”
A Legacy Passed to the Next Generation
Michael’s niece Keeley grew up hearing stories about him. He died when she was young, but it has never felt that way. “It’s amazing how much you can know someone through stories,” she said. Those stories gave the next generation a picture of an uncle they never met — his enormous laugh, his sense of humour, his bear hugs and his habit of teasing his siblings.
Still, sadness remains. The younger Armstrongs are now approaching the age Michael was when he died. “We’re now in that stage of life of people getting married,” Keeley said, with tears in her eyes. “I can’t imagine that you’re supposed to be going to a bachelor party on Thursday, and then this happens.”
Yet the family also holds on to something else from those days — the kindness of others. Catherine found herself part of a group of women who, like her, lost their fiancés on 9/11. They found each other in the aftermath. Twenty-five years later, they still meet every September 11 for lunch. The Armstrong family received countless acts of support in those first days, and they have carried that spirit forward ever since. “I can’t look back at that day without thinking about the kindness, the care everyone took with me,” Marian said. “People are so beautiful.”
