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Her Daughter's Inspiration

Nancy Bueche had a 10-year-old daughter, Bridget, and a full-time job at Aon Corporation in the World Trade Center, and was within months of receiving a bachelor's degree in business administration. Bridget was a primary reason for Mrs. Bueche to push herself to attend night classes for three years, said Jim Bueche, her husband.

"She wanted to show our daughter you can do it," he said. "Anything she did, she did for our daughter."

On weekends, he said, Mrs. Bueche, 43, and Bridget were inseparable. "Starting Friday night all the way through Sunday," he said. In the summer, they would pick up Mrs. Bueche's mother, go to the beach and return to their home in Hicksville, on Long Island, for Mr. Bueche's barbecue.

In the winter, he said, they would shop.

"As soon as it started to get cold," he said. "Clothes for Bridget. Christmas presents for her mother. They'd hit the mall or some big sale somewhere. When they got tired of that, they'd go to children's movies. Or the library." Now, he said: "I try to keep her busy with friends and her softball team. But it isn't the same."

A few weeks ago, Mr. Bueche and Bridget went to Briarcliffe College, which was giving Mrs. Bueche a posthumous honorary degree. Despite her grief, Bridget has kept up grades, he said. "I tell her: `Mother got all A's. You can do it, too.' "

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on June 30, 2002.