Although Ruth E. Ketler never lived in Grove City after she went to college, the town never left her, said her aunt, Alice Ketler.

"She belonged to the town," Mrs. Ketler said.

Now, the 1976 graduate of Grove City High School belongs to history. Ms. Ketler's office was on the 94th floor of the second World Trade Center building to be hit by a terrorist-controlled airplane last Sept. 11.

"She was pretty close to the point of impact," said Bruce Ketler, a first cousin to Ruth and son of Alice.

Although Alice and Bruce Ketler, both of Grove City, had not seen Ruth Ketler for four or five years, her loss has been very hard to deal with, both said.

"She was just a delightful girl," Mrs. Ketler said. "She was pretty and very smart -- a sharp girl. She was well-liked. She had a lot going for her."

Ketler, 53, described his cousin, who died at age 42, as "friendly and outgoing," and she never adopted the stereotypical big-city traits once she moved to New York.

"She never really lost her small-town qualities," said Ketler, a business professor at Grove City College.

Many of the financiers and bankers who came from New York to attend her memorial service -- she was director of research at Fiduciary Trust Co. -- agreed with that assessment.

"They noticed those same qualities in her," Ketler said.

The family always considered Ms. Ketler, who went to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., special because she was the only girl in the two families of predominantly boys. Her father, Dave, was the brother of Bruce Ketler's father, George.

At the one-year anniversary of Sept. 11, "The feeling of loss has really not gone away," Ketler said.

The constant reminders of the day in the media and in the community make the loss more difficult to deal with, he said.

"But I'm willing to share and people want to know," said the Air National Guard squadron commander. "I'm doing it for Ruth."

Mrs. Ketler said her thoughts are with Ms. Ketler's mother, Jane, who lives in Ponte Verde, Fla.

"She's the one my heart aches for," Mrs. Ketler said. "They were very close."

Jane Ketler and her son David, of Warren, Ohio, declined to be interviewed.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at jpinchot@sharonherald.com