09/11/2026
9/11/26 is the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our nation. Let us never forget those who perished that day and also those who died as a result of clearing debris.
Attached is a Throwback Thursday article that shares Clear Lake's link to Flight 93.
Clear Lake has had many wonderful businesses serve our community over the decades. Jacobson Electric continues to be a full-service, family-owned electrical contractor located at 801 Buddy Holly Place. In 1948, Warren Jacobson and his wife Betty settled in Clear Lake and Warren took a job with Rice Electric, working there 13 years before he opened his own business. Warren started his own business in 1960 and ran it for 32 years before turning it over to his son, Larry, in 1992. Clear Lake’s connection to 9/11 comes from Warren’s wife Betty (Roberts) who had a sister Beverly who was married to a Thomas Edward Burnett, Sr.
Betty (Roberts) Jacobson from Clear Lake was the aunt of Thomas E. Burnett, Jr. one of the heroic passengers who helped lead the revolt against hijackers on United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. As we prepare to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the terrorists’ attacks on our nation on September 11, 2001, let us look closer at the relationship of Tom Burnett, Jr. to Clear Lake. Besides having an aunt from Clear Lake, the officiating pastor at Tom and Deena’s wedding was none other than Msgr. Joseph Slepicka, the parish priest of St. Patrick’s Catholic church in Clear Lake from 1955 – 1999. Msgr. Slepicka was a life-long friend of Thomas E. Burnett, Sr., the father Tom, Jr. who was of one of the four passengers who coordinated the storming of the cockpit on Flight 93. Msgr. Slepicka accompanied the Burnett family on their first visit to the Pennsylvania crash site in April 2002 and even offered Mass in the field of honor. The remains recovered of Thomas E. Burnett; Jr. are buried at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in MN. The Flight 93 National Memorial is located in Sommerset County, PA. A 17.5-ton sandstone bolder marks the spot where the plane slammed into the ground as the passengers attempted to take control of the plane from the terrorists. The bolder was placed at the crash site in 2011 for the opening of the Flight 93 National Memorial.
The Clear Lake Volunteer Fire Department has annually offered a commemoration event each on September 11th. This coming Friday will be no exception. This year’s keynote speaker is Chief Richard Picciotto, a 28-year veteran from the FDNY and the highest-ranking firefighter to survive the World Trade Center collapse. He led FDNY Battalion 11 from the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Chief Picciotto was also on duty during the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. The commemoration begins at 6:00 pm at the Clear Lake Fire Station. (The History Channel produced the documentary, “The Miracle of Stairway B” in 2006. It can be found on YouTube.)
