Times Union, Albany, USA
Section: LOCAL
Page: B3
FRIDAY, January 6, 1989FRIENDS, MEMORIES EASE GRIEF FOR HUDSON AIR-CRASH VICTIM
By Jane Gottlieb Staff writer
Following a funeral service for plane crash victim Christopher Jones Thursday afternoon, his parents, Georgia and Anthony Nucci, stood outside St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in the biting cold and said that getting through the latest of their ordeals had a lot to do with their son's young friends. Standing right next to them, the friends said getting through had a lot to do with Christopher Jones.
"As soon as everyone starts to feel depressed, we remember something ridiculous he did and it starts to feel better," said 20-year-old Bill Trudell of Hudson. "He was just so happy go lucky. He really loved life."
Jones, a 20-year-old Hudson High School graduate studying in England, was among the 259 passengers who died last month when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded and crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland. Investigators believe a bomb was planted on the jet.
For the Nuccis, the year had ended the same way it began - with the loss of a child. Their daughter, Jennifer, took ill and died last January while on an exchange program in Ecuador. Christopher Jones will be buried next to his sister Friday at the Rowley town cemetery in Massachusetts, where they had once lived.
"This is our second loss and somehow it helps to know Christopher's loss has brought many, many people with it," said Georgia Nucci of Claverack, who had her children in a previous marriage. "Most of all, it's his friends. They're holding us together."
The Nuccis spoke after a brief but solemn liturgy so quiet that between readings by the Rev. Dozia Wilson the only sound were the click of heels on a shiny stone tile floor as mourners went to receive communion.
Yet the same solitude gave Dan Curry a chance to think of something so funny Christoher Jones had once done that he kicked Trudell next to him. The two said they held back from laughing. And they would not describe that antic.
"Maybe it's not right, but we wanted to laugh," said Curry, 20, of Hudson. "You couldn't help but think about some of the ridiculous things he'd do."
About a week after the crash, Trudell said he got an overseas letter from Jones that served to lift his sagging spirits. In it, Jones leveled barbs against sports teams coming up against his beloved Boston teams. He dotted the correspondence with drawings of sailors and other characters of his creation.
"It started, 'By the time you read this I'll be in Hudson,"' said Trudell a student at the State University at Albany.
"At first, I thought it was too difficult and I would not want to read it but it is the last thing I have from him and now I'm glad I have it. All the little drawings and jokes helped."
Christopher Jones loved concerts, they said. He loved a game similar to whiffle ball called Lucky Pierre. He didn't like losing. He also didn't like it when friends once stole his car, but the gag gave him plenty of mileage - and demonstrated to his friends a spirit that is contagious.
"You know, I thought of him laughing during the memorial service (last week) when the bagpipes squeaked," said Irene Ruppe, mother of another Hudson classmate, Ken Ruppe. "I felt like laughing because I could just picture him (Jones) laughing."
Listening to her son and his friends Thursday afternoon Irene Ruppe said she finally understood how they were coping.
"I've been wondering how Ken had done so well" she said on the church steps. "Now I know. We as adults have all these ideas about death and funerals. We think we know what to do and we worry about young people, but maybe we shouldn't.
"They have a completely different idea of about what happens. I don't think they have to cry."