Sharon Balkcom: January 2, 1958 – September 11, 2001
Sharon Balkcom was working as an assistant vice president of technology for Marsh & McLennan, a position she held for about three years, when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower at the World Trade Center. The floors occupied by the company were at the point of direct impact. The attack shattered the hopes and dreams of Balkcom, which after so many years of hard work and dedication seemed finally on their way to being fulfilled.
On this 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Balkcom is remembered for her independence, motivation and hard-working approach to everything she did. She was well-respected by her colleagues at Marsh & McLennan and at other companies located within the World Trade Center.
Sharon grew up in East Harlem, the middle child, in a family of five. She is survived by her mother Rosalee, sister Joan, and brother Gordon. Her innate abilities in mathematics were recognized at an early age and Sharon was fast-tracked toward an advanced educational path, attending the Robert F. Wagner Middle School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and then the Bronx High School of Science. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science from Colgate University and an M.B.A. from Pace University.
Sharon’s mother Rosalee, says she and her husband, Nathaniel, tried to instill the importance of getting an education in their children and that “you have to work for the things you want.”
Sharon’s home in White Plains, purchased just two years before her untimely death, is a testament to that ideology. Today, her sister Joan, an educator in the New York City school system, lives in the house, maintaining Sharon’s memory in the community.
A memorial to Sharon has been established in the development where the house is located and each year on the September 11 anniversary a special ceremony is held in her honor. Balkcom collected butterfly ornaments, the symbol of the Phi Delta Sigma Sorority for African American businesswomen, of which she was a member. The butterfly symbolizes significant changes in one’s life, an appropriate representation of Balkcom’s growth from humble beginnings to a suburban lifestyle in Westchester County.
While Sharon’s mother and sister have shied away from attending ceremonies at Ground Zero, preferring to visit “The Rising” in Valhalla, her brother Gordon has attended and ran in Sharon’s memory in 2009 and 2010 in the World Trade Center Run to Remember. This year, Joan plans to take the trip to lower Manhattan for the dedication of the September 11th memorial at Ground Zero.
In 2009, the Balkcom family established the Sharon Balkcom ’80 Memorial Scholarship at Colgate University.
Preference is given to students living in Harlem who are concentrating in International Relations or Economics; or students from the five boroughs of New York City.
-By Pat Casey
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.