June 17, 2021

Robin Wiener is the sister of Jeffrey Wiener, who died at the age of 33 on Sept. 11. Jeffrey Wiener worked at Marsh Risk Technologies, 96th floor, WTC Tower One – the North Tower. At the moment of the attack Jeff’s parents were driving north on the New Jersey Turnpike from where they could see the towers. They immediately called their daughter, Robin. She drove from Washington, D.C., to New York to join the family in the search for her brother. The morning of the 12th, Robin, Jeff’s wife, parents, and other family members began distributing missing person posters, visiting hospitals, contacting police, and checking with relief organizations. Sadly, they never found Jeff alive. The remains of Jeffrey Wiener were found on the roof of World Trade Center Building 5, in excess of 300 feet away from the North Tower, on February 2, 2002. What would cause his body to sail in the air that far from the North Tower? Presumably, if he had jumped, he would have fallen straight down from his 96th office window to the ground at the foot of the North Tower.

In an obituary with the headline “A Proposal in a Toy Store,” it was recounted that “Jeffrey and Heidi Wiener became engaged at F.A.O. Schwarz, in front of the big clock. The couple had first gone to the toy store on an early date, when they were living in Philadelphia, where they met. “We were taking the elevator down and he told me he knew that someday we would bring our kids there,” Mrs. Wiener recalled. A few years later, when they were visiting New York because Mr. Wiener was running in the New York City marathon, he took her to F.A.O. Schwarz again, and asked her to marry him. “I laughed and I cried and I hugged him and somewhere in there I said ‘yes,’ ” she said. “And then we went for a carriage ride in Central Park.”

Mr. Wiener, 33, could be serious and studious — he had degrees in aerospace engineering and business from Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and New York University — but he never forgot how to have fun. He grew up in Trumbull, Conn., and was manager of the risk-technologies group at Marsh & McLennan. For Mr. Wiener and his wife, another favorite spot was just a few blocks from F.A.O Schwarz — the Central Park Zoo. “He used to say that if he ever won the lottery, he would spend time working at the zoo or an aquarium,” she said. “He loved animals.”

Robin Wiener became a member of the Family Steering Committee for the 9/11 Independent Commission.

Weeks after the release of the 9/11 Commission Report, Robin Wiener testified on August 3, 2004, before the Congressional Committee on Government Reform. She stated in her testimony “As tragic as that day was for the victims, their families, and all of our country, America was united – strongly united – for months after the attacks. Sadly, that unity eroded quickly as response to the tragedy became political. Even the families were, at times, drawn into debates that had more to do with politics than finding real solutions to what was, is, and could still be a crisis in our nation….In the months following September 11, 2001, the families began to advocate for the creation of a commission to investigate the terrorist attacks with the goal of making whatever changes would be necessary to prevent another such attack….Unity and truth are vitally important, Mr. Chairman. They are very powerful forces and they are what make this country strong. As Beverly made clear, the American people are reading this report closely. They are absorbing the recommendations. They are watching what you do here today . . . and what you will do in the weeks and months ahead. And they – along with the families – will not be pleased if they see the commission’s recommendations falling by the wayside.” She added “It is important that the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations occur on a timeline that is drawn to protect America, not to protect incumbents of any party.” 

 Nonetheless, Wiener and other members of the FSC were impelled to issue numerous press releases throughout the fall of 2004 to prompt President Bush and Congress to move forward with passage of the 9/11 Commission recommendations in their Report. 

In an article in Waste Age on September 1, 2011, Robin Wiener said “I still miss my brother every day,” she says. “I’m incredibly sad that it happened. But I’m also grateful. I’ll always remember him and the great support the industry showed – to me personally and to the country by the work that was done.” Waste Age reported “Wiener’s family continues to be involved in the children’s library they set up at Jeff’s synagogue, and they facilitate an annual student achievement award for community involvement. Daughter Jennifer, who never got to meet her uncle, is now participating in that event. She gets to talk with the other award winners – children too young to remember Sept. 11. “That’s one of the ways we decided to introduce him to her in a more positive way,” Wiener said of the award.”

Robin Wiener has been a board member of Families of September 11th, and a member of Voices of September 11, Give Your Voice, and the WTC United Family Group. In her Families of September 11th board member bio, it is stated: “Robin is the President of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) in Washington, D.C. A lawyer by training, she has experience in matters relating to the activities of Congress and knowledge of the legal and political workings of the government.” 

Ray McGinnis

References:
“A Proposal in a Toy Store,” legacy.com.
“Testimony of Robin K. Wiener,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, August 3, 2004.
Alan Gerlat, “Reclaimed Memories,” Waste Age, September 1, 2011.