I had the bench erected in memory of my 21-year-old son, Mark who was killed aboard Pan Am I03 while returning from studying abroad at the Syracuse University London Center in England. The bench was placed in Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury, LI so that I would have a place to sit when I visited my sons stone every other Saturday. I engraved and dedicated the bench to my son and also to all 270 people killed aboard Pan Am 103.
The memorial that we have had the most satisfaction with is the Mark Tobin Memorial Travel Fellowship Fund through the Deans Ofï¬ce at Fordham University where Mark attended college. The memorial is open to juniors for travel during their summer abroad before their senior year. Their applications are sorted by the Deans committee, and each year we meet the student winner, have dinner with them and get to know their interests. Each student writes back (usually lots of postcards) describing the trip that they are on. The fund was started with Marks own life insurance policy and we have added to it each year. For our 50th wedding anniversary, we asked friends and family to contribute to Marks memorial fund, instead of giving us gifts. Every year we look forward to meeting the new recipient. The Dean also invites many of the former recipients who are in the area to come together and it is like a family reunion.
Submitted by Helen Tobin, who lost her son, Mark Tobin, 21, aboard Pan Am 103 on December 21, 1988 when it was bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland
