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Reszke, 56, was a civilian budget analyst for the U.S. Army, and her first floor office at the Pentagon was directly below where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed.

She was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, but moved to the United States in 1961 after her mother married an American Army soldier.

She was a graduate of Texas Christian University and had worked as a civilian employee of the Department of Defense since marrying Jim Reszke--now retired from the Army--in 1979.

She had worked in the Pentagon since 1993.

On Thursday, a military casualty assistance officer visited Jim to tell him what he had known instinctively. What remains that can be found will be turned over to him after they are identified.

"We're going to have a memorial service anyway, because we've got to have closure,"Jim Reszke said. "When we do get the remains, we're going to have another small ceremony with just the immediate family."

Both ceremonies will be next to the garden Martha Reszke, the mother of two and grandmother of five, loved so much.

Profile courtesy of THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE.