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Kenneth Waldie
METHUEN -- Kenneth E. Waldie, a
Methuen youth basketball referee
and devoted father of four, was
never supposed to be on American
Flight 11.
After a change in itinerary, the
46-year-old Raytheon engineer
rose before the crack of dawn
yesterday, petted his golden
retriever Casey and left his
home in Methuen for the last
time.
"We can't believe this happened
to him. It was a twist of fate,"
said his wife, Carol, leaning
heavily on the railing of her
back steps.
"I got a call from my son about
the crash and a couple of
Raytheon people came to the
house. The kids were so very
close to him, they are
devastated. We all are."
A Pittsburgh, native Kenneth
Waldie worked for 18 years for
Raytheon at the company's
Andover plant.
Carol Waldie, a second-grade
teacher at Sacred Heart
Elementary School in Lawrence,
said her husband was looking
forward to the wedding of their
oldest child, Andrew, 24, on
Oct. 6.
Kenneth Waldie had coached his
younger children in Little
League and could be seen on the
sidelines cheering on his only
daughter Meredith, a field
hockey and basketball star who
is a junior at Methuen High
School. He was never without his
sidekick, 14-year-old son
Jonathan, nicknamed "J.T.," a
seventh-grader at the Tenney
School and a budding baseball
player.
Another son, Jeff, 20, is a
stationed with the U.S. Coast
Guard in New Bedford and alerted
the rest of the family to the
tragedy as it unfolded.
"This is such a shock," said
Karen McLaughlin, Methuen
varsity field hockey coach and
physical education teacher.
McLaughlin was teaching Meredith
when school counselors took her
out of class to deliver the
news.
"Ken never missed a game. He was
so supportive of his kids.
Meredith is just an unbelievable
athlete and she loves her
father. This is really going to
hit the Methuen High athletic
program hard," she said,
breaking into sobs.
About a half-dozen of Meredith's
teammates stood in front of the
house last night looking dazed
and hugging family members.
Several other neighborhood kids
on bikes and skateboards came to
pay their respects, remembering
Ken as a guy who "always had a
compliment for you."
"We're like family on this
street. Everything was put on
hold when we heard the news,"
said a woman who lives across
the street but didn't want to be
identified. "He always had an up
attitude and a great sense of
humor. A tragedy like this
really hits home when it's
someone you know who dies."
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