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October 24, 2001
John Spataro's friends would poke fun at him, asking why he never took his wife out for a movie or dinner at a chic restaurant. But he just shrugged it off, because the relaxed evenings and weekends they spent at home in Mineola were the way he wanted them.
"We didn't go out a lot. We just liked to be together," said Trish Wellington-Spataro.
Friday nights were reserved for dinner at home, with Spataro serving up steak and martinis. In the summer months, Spataro woke up early on Saturdays to beat the crowds at Jones Beach, and he and his wife would sit back in the sand with sandwiches, cold beer and the newspaper.
"People would ask what he did during the weekend, and he would say, 'You know what? Absolutely nothing, and it is the best,'" Wellington- Spataro said.
Spataro, 32, was an assistant vice president in the working capital group for Marsh USA Inc. on the 98th floor of Tower One.
His wife described him as a private, reserved person, "but once you did get to know him, he was just the best. He would do anything for you."
She also said he was vocal about his patriotism and convinced her to vote in local and national elections.
Spataro was recently named godfather to his nephew, Nicholas, who was born in December. His wife said the baby brought out a different side of Spataro, who usually didn't gravitate toward kids.
"To see him outwardly show how much he loved this kid was just amazing," she said.
Besides his wife and nephew, Spataro is survived by his parents, Giovanni and Domenica Spataro of Deer Park, and two brothers, Anthony, also of Deer Park, and Robert, of West Islip.
A memorial service was held Sept. 22 at Corpus Christi Church in Mineola. Spataro's wife requests that donations be made to the John A. Spataro Scholarship Fund at his alma mater, St. John's University.
Checks made out to the school with a reference to the fund can be sent to Robert Cicero at 315 Avenue C, Suite 5C, New York, N.Y. 10009.
-- Ann L. Kim (Newsday).
Monday, October 29, 2001
By ELIZABETH HAYS, DEREK ROSE and BILL HUTCHINSON
Daily News Staff Writers
Many relatives of the missing and dead at the World Trade Center found a giant sense of solace in small wooden urns they were given yesterday.
"It's all we have," said Giovanni Spataro, 63, of Deer Park, L.I., whose son, John, 32, died in the terror attack.
Following yesterday's memorial service at Ground Zero, grieving relatives went directly to the Family Assistance Center at Pier 94, where they received the urns bearing earth from the Trade Center site and a folded American flag.
Like Spataro, thousands of people — most still waiting for the remains of their loved ones to be found — left with tears in their eyes, clutching the urns as if they contained far more than earth.
"It's something," said Robert Spataro, 30, whose missing brother worked as a financial analyst for Marsh USA on the 98th floor of 1 World Trade Center. "It's better to have something than nothing. But it's just one step."
'Gives Us Some Closure'
American flags were also given out to family members of the missing and deceased from the World Trade Center attacks.
The 5-inch-tall urns, made of polished cherry mahogany, were each etched with the date 09-11-01. Each urn was contained in a blue velvet drawstring bag and was handed out by volunteers expressing condolences "on behalf of the City of New York and the citizens of the United States."
View/sign John Spataro's Guest Book provided by the New York Times.
