Lisa Beamer Kept Her Late Husband Todd's Memory Alive for Their Children
All three of Todd Beamer's children went on to attend the same college as their father.
Published Sept. 11 2024, 1:10 p.m. ET
On Sept. 11, 2001, Todd Beamer stayed on the phone with GTE supervisor Lisa Jefferson for 13 minutes, during which she overheard him planning to attack the individuals who hijacked United Airlines Flight 93. Beamer, along with the other passengers, was aware of the fact that two planes had already been taken over. It was later learned that United Flight 93 was headed for Washington, D.C. but thanks to Beamer and a few others, it crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
According to Todd's wife Lisa Beamer, he debated whether or not he wanted to call her directly but ultimately decided it would upset her too much. Lisa was pregnant with their third child, and he worried about the baby. Instead, it was the other Lisa who heard Todd utter his now famous last words: "Are you guys ready? Let's roll." Todd Beamer's children were quite young when he was killed, but Lisa did her best to keep his memory alive.
Todd Beamer's children followed in their father's footsteps.
Lisa and her children were thrust into the spotlight after Todd's death, as he was immediately elevated to hero status. Their daughter Morgan would be born four months after Todd's death, in January 2002. She spoke with NBC News on the five-year anniversary of 9/11, about Todd's love of baseball and how he was so excited to pass that passion onto his children.
David, who was 3 at the time, already had an entire catcher's outfit apart from the glove. Lisa told her husband that the glove had to wait until David was a real catcher. Funnily enough, three weeks before the interview, she stumbled upon a box in her basement that contained a tiny glove Todd must have bought for their son.
Speaking of gifts, Lisa described Morgan as the last gift Todd gave her, though her birth was bittersweet. Lisa lamented the fact that Todd never got to meet her and Morgan would grow up never knowing her father. Despite that, Lisa said Morgan is very much like him. "She has a very calm personality," explained Lisa. "And, you know, just takes life as it comes. And that’s kind of how he was. He was a very peaceful person to be around."
The Beamer children have kept a relatively low profile since their father's death. David, the oldest, teaches math in the Douglas County School District in Colorado, per his LinkedIn. Andrew Beamer graduated from Wheaton in 2022 with a Bachelor's Degree in Business/Managerial Economics, and is a project engineer at RQ Construction. Morgan got her Bachelor of Science from Wheaton in May 2024 and as of September 2024, is in the process of getting her Master's Degree in Nursing at Elmhurst University.
