Alejandro Cordero (Alex) was born in Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, New York. Alex lived all his life with his parents, Moises and Teresa Cordero, and his two brothers, Moises Vladimir (18 years old) and Wellington (17 years old) on 164th Street in Upper Manhattan in New York City. During his childhood, Alex attended elementary school at P.S. 128, then attended Stitt Middle School. In 1995, Alex graduated from George Washington High School.During Alex’s high school years, he became a very popular and well-respected young man who was loved and admired by his peers and schoolteachers. Among other things, Alex was a gifted athlete who participated in his school baseball and basketball teams.
In 1995, Alex was admitted to the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) and Berkley College, where he obtained an accounting degree. Upon graduating, Alex worked for Marsh & McLennan Companies at the World Trade Center.
Alex can best be described as a kind, noble, loving, affectionate and responsible young man who was loved by all who had the fortune of knowing him. Like any other young man, Alex had all his life ahead of him. He had big dreams and great plans for the future. He wanted to further his career in accounting so that he would have a better life and help his family. However, on that terrible day, September 11, 2001, Alex was suddenly and violently taken from the lives of those who loved him: his parents, Moises and Teresa Cordero; his brothers, Moises Vladimir and Wellington; his grandparents, Minda and Lulo; his fiancee, Sonjare; his uncles, Felix and David; his aunts, Ruth, Loida, Ada, Ivonne, and Provi; a special friend, Nurellis; and a host of cousins and friends. Alex’s untimely death has left in their hearts great feelings of pain and sadness.
Alex, we will never forget you. We look forward to that day in which we will meet again in Heaven. Until that fateful day comes, we ask God to grant us solace and strength to endure the pain of your absence.
Friends and Colleagues Could Confide in HimEverybody around Broadway and 164th Street knew Alejandro Cordero. The young men on the corner - his old baseball pals who now spent their time hanging out and hustling - straightened up when they saw him walking down the street.
"Yo, hide that," they told the younger ones with cigarettes in their hands.
Cordero, a 23-year-old with a broad grin, had a habit of marching underage smokers back home to their mothers and giving them an earful on the way.
Unlike some of his old friends, Cordero's dreams extended far beyond the corners of his upper Manhattan neighborhood. He had an associate's degree from Berkeley College in midtown Manhattan and a good job high in the accounting department at Marsh & McLennan's offices in the World Trade Center's north tower. He was living at home and saving up money for a four-year degree in business.
But "he never turned his back" on someone just because they chose a different path, said his mother, Teresa Cordero of Washington Heights. In return, he got respect. "The worst kids on the block ... they'd tell me, 'Señora, Alex is a good kid, he's the best.'"
Cordero was the first of three sons born to Teresa and Moises Cordero, Dominicans who met in the Bronx and settled in Washington Heights. As he grew older, his mother told him to always help people who needed it, like the old women in their building who struggled with too many grocery bags. It was more a reminder than an admonishment. "He was born to be like he was, very caring," his mother said.
And so Cordero became the go-to guy. "I am the counselor at work, I am the counselor at school," he told his mother over dinner last summer at the family apartment. "Everybody comes to me for problems." Even his ex-girlfriends knew they could count on him for emotional support.
But his heart belonged to his girlfriend of three years, Sonjare Almadacar of the Bronx. They were talking about marriage and starting their own family. Cordero even knew exactly what he wanted their son's bedroom to look like: a ceiling painted to look like the sky, a carpet like green grass with red squares for bases and baseball bats on the walls.
He and Almadacar were saving for a vacation package to Santo Domingo when he was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. "He never got a chance to show what he could do," his mother said.
(c) 2001 Newsday, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
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