Starting at 8:46am on September 11, 2001, when the first plane hit the north tower, our community was changed forever. Please take a moment to remember those 21 residents from Basking Ridge, Bernardsville and Peapack that never came home that day. This is our tribute to the families. #wewillneverforget.
Bernards Township was one of the hardest hit communities in the state on 9/11. The 18 township residents lost that day was the fourth highest total of any town in New Jersey, after Jersey City, Hoboken and Middletown Township.
David Campbell-51-Basking-Ridge 
Kevin Dennis-43–Peapack Stephen Dimino-48-Basking Ridge 
John Farrell-41-Basking Ridge 
Louis Fersini Jr.-38-Basking Ridge 
Michael Finnegan-37-Basking Ridge 
Christopher Forsythe-44-Basking Ridge 
Steven Genovese-37-Basking Ridge Robert Halligan-59-Basking Ridge 
Kevin Hannaford-32-Basking Ridge 
John Hartz-64-Basking Ridge Allison Horstmann-Jones-31- Bernardsville 
Matthew McDermott-34-Basking-Ridge Stacey-Sennas-McGowan-38-Basking-Ridge Ludwig-Picarro-44-Basking Ridge Stephen Poulos-45-Basking-Ridge Thomas Reinig-48-Bernardsville Craig Staub-30-Basking Ridge 
Timothy Soulas -35- Basking Ridge, New Jersey 
Frank Wisniewski-54-Basking Ridge 
There were seven others who perished in the attacks who had connections to the Somerset Hills area including:
- Debbie Fischer Gibbon of Long Valley, a 1975 Ridge High School graduate
- Barbara G. Edwards of Las Vegas, Nev., who had lived in the township in the 1980s.
- All of whom had relatives in the Somerset Hills
- James Berger
- Thomas E. Gorman
- Anthony Infante Jr.
- Thomas P. Knox
- Joseph Mascali
2020 Memorial Observations
Bernards Township will again host a September 11 memorial ceremony this year to commemorate the local residents, among thousands of others, who perished in the 2001 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center site. The gathering is scheduled to be held at the township’s own 9/11 Memorial at Harry Dunham Park.
The township issued an invitation to the public to attend the ceremony “to honor and remember the brave men and women who lost their lives.” The event is set for 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, at the 9/11 memorial in Harry Dunham Park, 490 Somerville Road in Basking Ridge.
Bernards Township Committee
The nearby Liberty Corner firehouse on Church Street in Liberty Corner also has a 9/11 memorial that honors the firefighters who died saving others that day. To help fund the memorial, the volunteer fire company made available for purchase 343 memorial bricks, representing the 343 Fire Department of New York firefighters who gave their lives in the terrorist attack.
2020 Update:
The MLH Project just released a new piece on the community members we lost. For the first time in one place, earn about the people and their families. Click Here
UPDATE: If there is a foundation or supporting organization honoring those lost, please let us know and we will update their legacy here with the good work being done in their honor. Submit Here.
The Somerset Hills
- David O. Campbell, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Kevin Dennis, Peapack, New Jersey
- Stephen Dimino, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- John W. Farrell, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Louis Fersini, Jr., Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Michael Finnegan, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Christopher Forsythe, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Steven Genovese, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Robert John Halligan, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Kevin James Hannaford, Basking Ridge, New Jersey – Kevin Hannaford Foundation
- John Clinton Hartz, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Allison Horstmann Jones, Bernardsville, New Jersey
- Matthew McDermott, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Stacey Sennas McGowan, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Ludwig Picarro, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Stephen E. Poulos, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Thomas B. Reinig, Bernardsville, New Jersey
- Craig W. Staub, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- William Randolph Tieste, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Timothy P. Soulas, 35, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
- Frank Thomas Wisniewski, Basking Ridge, New Jersey
