By ALPHA1 · Town Vines Desk
on September 11, 2026, Tell City will gather for an evening of remembrance as the community marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
For Tell City, September 11 has always carried a deeply personal connection.
One of the people lost that day was Stacey Lynn Peak, a Tell City native and 1983 graduate of Tell City High School.
Stacey was 36 years old and had built a successful career that took her from Southern Indiana to Louisville, Houston, and eventually New York City. On the morning of September 11, 2001, she was working as a power broker for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
A Daughter Calls Home
After the North Tower was struck, Stacey was able to call her mother, Bobbie Peak, back home in Tell City.
In Bobbie Peak’s remembrance published by the Cantor Families Memorial, she recalled receiving Stacey’s call shortly before 9 a.m. Stacey told her that the building was on fire and that they might be trapped. Most importantly, she wanted her mother to know that she loved her.
The telephone connection was lost.
It would become the last known conversation between a Tell City mother and her daughter in New York City.
For the Peak family, the tragedy Americans were watching unfold on television was not something happening hundreds of miles away; it was happening to one of their own.
A Life That Began in Tell City
Before New York City became part of Stacey’s story, there was Tell City.
She attended Tell City High School and graduated with the Class of 1983. Her career later took her to Louisville and Houston before she moved to New York and joined Cantor Fitzgerald.
Friends have continued to remember Stacey not simply for where she worked or how she died, but for the person she was.
Years after the attacks, one childhood friend described her to WFIE as intelligent, funny, kind, and enthusiastic. Another local remembrance described a woman who remained deeply connected to the family and hometown she left behind while pursuing her ambitions.
That distinction matters.
September 11 is often remembered through numbers, photographs, and images of buildings that became permanently etched into American history.
But every number represented a person. For Tell City, one of those people was Stacey Peak.
Her Name Still Lives in Tell City
Stacey’s memory continues to have a visible presence in her hometown.
A memorial overlooking the Ohio River in Tell City gives family, friends, and community members a place to remember her. Local residents have continued gathering there through the years to honor her memory and reflect on the events of September 11.
Her name also lives on through the Stacey Peak Memorial Scholarship.
According to the Community Foundation of Southwest Indiana, the scholarship was created by her mother, Bobbie Peak, and members of the family in Stacey’s honor. It assists graduating Tell City High School seniors pursuing post-secondary education.
In that way, Stacey’s legacy continues to reach new generations of young people growing up in the same community where her own journey began.
The Heroes Gala — 25 Years Later
On Friday, September 11, Tell City will again remember.
The Heroes Gala, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the William Tell Center, will commemorate the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with an evening centered on service, sacrifice, remembrance, and the heroes among us.
This year’s event honors Stacey Peak and her family.
According to information provided by event organizers, the gala is sold out, demonstrating the tremendous response from the community for this special anniversary gathering.
The evening will include dinner, a program, and live entertainment.
After Image Photobooth will also be present, helping capture photographs from an evening that will become part of Tell City’s own remembrance of this historic anniversary.
More Than an Event
For After Image Photobooth, being there is about more than photographs. It is an opportunity to help document a moment in the history of our community.
Twenty-five years have passed since September 11, 2001. A generation has now grown up knowing that day only through photographs, recordings, classrooms, memorials, and the stories passed down by the people who lived through it.
That makes telling Stacey’s story even more important.
She was not simply a name on a list of victims; she was a daughter, a sister, a friend, a Tell City High School graduate, a woman from a small Indiana community who followed her ambitions to one of the largest cities in the world. And she was one of Tell City’s own.
Thank You to the Peak Family
As this community gathers on September 11, a special thank you goes to Stacey Peak’s family for allowing her story and memory to continue touching generations of people in Tell City.
Their loss is personal, but through the memorial, the scholarship, and the continued remembrance of Stacey’s life, her legacy has become part of the history of this community.
The sold-out Heroes Gala provides an opportunity not only to look back at what happened 25 years ago but also to remember the individual lives behind one of the defining moments in American history.
For Tell City, that remembrance has a name: Stacey Lynn Peak.
Twenty-five years later, her hometown remembers.
We remember Stacey. We remember them all. We will never forget.