Todd Beamer's short time in Los Gatos was not forgotten

By Gloria I. Wang

Los Gatos High School graduate Todd Beamer was remembered as a person of integrity and an outstanding athlete following his recent death. Beamer was one of the passengers who perished when United Airlines flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania after it was hijacked.

"He was an awfully nice kid; he gave you 100 percent," said former assistant varsity baseball coach Wayne Senini. "He was totally, totally competitive ... But he was never abrasive or anything."

"He was one of the best basketball players I've played with," said high school friend Brian Unger.

Beamer, 32, was a sales manager for the Oracle Corporation who was flying out to the company's headquarters in Redwood Shores when the plane was hijacked. At the time of his death, he lived in New Jersey with his wife and two sons.

The Beamer family--parents Dave and Peggy, Todd, and his two sisters, Melissa and Michele--moved to Los Gatos from Chicago in 1986, allowing Todd to begin his senior year at Los Gatos High. As a sports enthusiast, he quickly became involved in varsity baseball and basketball.

"We were so fortunate to get a transfer of his caliber and his quality and his character," said former varsity baseball coach Joe Winstead. That season, Winstead said, Beamer was instrumental in helping the team win the West Valley League championship.

Beamer also played varsity basketball and met lifelong friend Unger on the team. The two were groomsmen at each other's weddings in 1996. Unger says that the longevity of their friendship was party due to the fact that both were Christians. "It was kind of a God thing," Unger said. "We just loved one another so deeply as friends." Unger and Beamer, along with classmate Chris Wade, were inseparable in high school and kept in touch after graduation.

While the family lived in Los Gatos, they attended Los Gatos Christian Church on Hicks Road. The family moved to Washington, D.C., after Beamer's graduation, but he stayed in California to attend and play baseball for California State University, Fresno.

Unger's father, Gene, said that his family remained in close contact with the Beamers, even after they had moved away. Gene Unger had spoken with the Beamers, who now live in Maryland, on Sept. 10. The next day, Peggy Beamer called their home with the bad news. Brian Unger was visiting his parents and spoke with Peggy Beamer. "She said, 'Brian, I have something really terrible to tell you.'"

Los Gatos High varsity basketball coach Jim Marino heard about Todd Beamer's death through a newspaper article and said it was "a total shock."

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