Sarah Philipps (middle), Julianne Kelly (2nd from left) and Sarah’s other roommates of Syracuse London Study Abroad Program
The quote the tombstone reads: “Death Leaves a Heartache No One Can Heal, Love Leaves a Memory No One Can Steal.” I think it is accurately reflects upon the feelings that many of us feel when a loved one dies, especially a loved one who left this world WAY TOO SOON…at the precious and tender age of 20 years.
Sarah Philipps would have turned 45 on August 15th of this year and who knows what Sarah would have contributed to the world by this time, I say confidently that Sarah would have contributed tremendously because she was gifted beyond words can describe, I am certain that Sarah would have been married with several beautiful, gifted and smart children by now, just like Sarah, if only…if only… she had not been taken from this world, her future stolen by cowards this day 25 years ago.
They can call themselves whatever they want, they can try to justify their acts all they want, but when it comes down to it, they are cowards, and they have no cause. Killing innocent civilians on their way home to family and friends, for Christmas, those responsible for the bombings are nothing more than cowardly terrorists.
Sarah perished in her seat, 21 F, on December 21, 1988. Sarah was sitting alongside her good friend Julianne Kelly, from Needham, MA, also a student. Julianne was also a student studying abroad with the Syracuse University London program. Both Sara, Julianne and the other 268 victims perished because cowardly terrorists planted a bomb inside a radio that was checked in as a baggage inside the 747’s cargo hold, The Pan Am 103 was named “Maiden of the Seas.” I saw Sarah and her friend Julianne just a few weeks before December 21, when I was visiting London and Dublin around Thanksgiving 1988.
I grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and lived about a mile from the Philipp’s family, and we attended the same schools together and played for our school’s athletic teams. I had the pleasure of spending time with Sarah Philipp’s, and her brother James “Fritz” Philipps while on vacation in London and Dublin in November of 1988.
Sarah was a student in her junior year at the University of Colorado at Boulder studying abroad in London with the Syracuse University program. Sarah, who was a very warm, smart and beautiful girl, had a great smile, a terrific sense of humor and a great laugh. If you ever had the chance to meet Sarah, you could not help but to like her, she had this radiance about her, a spirit that beamed brightly.
Sarah had an incredible quality about her, she had a personality that you would immediately connect with, you would never forget her, quite simply, Sarah radiated with love and, to me, she represented all that was good in the world.
On Saturday November 19, 1988, we tailgated at Jury’s before heading into the Boston College vs. West Point college football game dubbed “The Emerald Isle Classic.” It was a day that I will never forget. I spoke with Sarah again just before heading back to Boston, presuming that we’d see each other over Christmas.
Sarah died on December 21, 1988 aboard Pan Am 103 because a cowardly terrorist planted a bomb in the 747’s cargo hold; the plane had departed London Heathrow just about an hour earlier when the plane’s signal was lost over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Sarah, you will never be forgotten…we love you and miss you…always.
A quarter of a century later, remembering Sarah Philipps and the 269 other victims of the Lockerbie Bombing.
“DEATH LEAVES A HEARTACHE NO ONE CAN HEAL, LOVE LEAVES A MEMORY NO ONE CAN STEAL”
