Ingrid Acevedo New York, N.Y.
Thanks to Acevedo, there will be a lot more UNICEF coin boxes this Halloween. As director of public relations for UNICEF, Acevedo, 32, oversaw a wide range of projects designed to raise public awareness of the international children's fund, whether it was entertaining Hillary Clinton at an official function, teaching the merengue to UNICEF board members in the Dominican Republic or helping to reintroduce the orange charity boxes to another generation of trick-or-treaters. Acevedo began her career doing public relations in the fashion industry but soon realized that helping people in need was her true calling. Says UNICEF executive president Chip Lyons: "It's terrible to find something you love doing so young and then be cut off so quickly."
Pierce Gerety Brooklyn, N.Y.
Gerety, 56, had served on United Nations missions to most of the world's hot spots: Afghanistan, Sudan, Congo, Somalia, the Philippines. The son of a refugee-relief director in the Eisenhower administration, Gerety was a Harvard-trained lawyer who always went after the most dangerous assignments. As a member of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, he most recently negotiated with Congolese leader Laurent Kabila in hopes of ending the slaughter of refugees in central Africa. "Pierce was one of those silent heroes," says his brother Miles. "I always expected to get a call at 4 a.m., but I thought it would come out of Rwanda or Bosnia."
Tara Nelson Mystic, Conn.
Nelson, 35, was traveling on a mission of love. A naturopathic physician--someone who uses herbs and other natural agents instead of drugs--she had planned to help her pregnant sister in Grenoble give birth. Nelson was being met in Geneva by her boyfriend, who was going to propose to her.
Denis and Karen Maillet Baton Rouge, La.
The Maillets, both 37, were taking their 14-month-old son, Robert, to meet his French grandparents for the first time. They had tried to go in June but couldn't get plane tickets because of the World Cup. They almost missed Flight 111, too, when their connection from Baton Rouge was canceled because of Hurricane Earl. Instead, the family drove to New Orleans and got to New York with minutes to spare.
Joe LaMotta New York, N.Y.
In the boxing ring he was known as the Raging Bull, but life keeps knocking down former middleweight champ Jake LaMotta. LaMotta's younger son, Joe, 49, was flying Swissair Flight 111 on his way to promote LaMotta Food Products, a family-owned line of tomato sauces that is also sold on QVC. Joe, who was once a Golden Gloves boxer like his dad, as well as an intercollegiate wrestling champ, handled many of his father's business interests, including arranging personal appearances around the world. Though he has four daughters, LaMotta had only one other son, Jake Jr., 51, who died in February of cancer. "What is God trying to tell me?" LaMotta says.
Cherie Hastie Marietta, Ga. Caroline Smith Augusta, Ga.
Tragedy seems to haunt the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga. In 1996 two of its parishioners died in the TWA Flight 800 crash. Last year another church member was killed in the Korean Air disaster that claimed 227 victims in Guam. Now, in Canada, two more Johnson Ferry worshipers, Hastie, 59, and Smith have died in the Swissair crash. Smith and Hastie, who had been next-door neighbors for many years, were going to visit Hastie's daughter, Elizabeth, who is studying in Switzerland. "It's never easy," says senior pastor Bryant Wright. "We miss them all."
Klaus Kinder-Geiger Port Jefferson, N.Y.
Kinder-Geiger, 36, wasn't your typical nerdy scientist. The German-born physicist liked to wear black clothes and an earring, hang out in rock-and-roll bars and play electric guitar. And when he wasn't researching the nature of plasma at Long Island's Brookhaven National Laboratory, he would paint or draw caricatures. "Klaus was an incredibly brilliant, energetic and imaginative young theorist," says co-worker Rob Pisarski.
Mary Lou Clements-Mann and Jonathan Mann
Columbia, Md.
Mann and his wife, both 51-year-old doctors, did pioneer work fighting AIDS. He founded the World health Organization's Global AIDS Program; she was an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins. But they were also renowned as passionate activists for human-rights causes linked to the disease. They led the campaign to develop an AIDS vaccine, arguing that it was the only hope for poor people worldwide. "Some people say there's no use trying to change the world," Mann said. "But if we don't try, will it change?