Former Penn Charter, Duke lacrosse standout Ortale is remembered in anniversary of his loss in attacks on 9/11

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 9/13/11

Peter K. Ortale, a former Penn Charter and Duke University lacrosse standout who was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11, was recently remembered in a special article by his former college professor on Duke Today.

Ortale, of Northeast Philadelphia, was 37 and working for Euro Brokers on the 84th floor of the South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001.

Ortale served as a captain for the Duke Blue Devils in 1987 and was a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference player. At Penn Charter, he was a two-time All-American and led the Quakers to the 1983 state championship.

Ortale’s character and spirit are also remembered through the Duke’s Lacrosse Club Peter Ortale Scholarship, which has awarded college scholarship money to four Duke’s players since it was created in 2010.

There also is the Peter K. Ortale Scholarship Fund, which provides tuition assistance to a Penn Charter or Duke student who, like Peter, exhibits the qualities of a scholar athlete and demonstrates a high level of personal leadership and integrity, both in the classroom and on the playing field.

The author of the article, Michael Allen Gillespie, wrote: “The other thing that set Peter apart was his constant efforts to impart this same enthusiasm for learning to his friends and particularly the members of his lacrosse team.

“He was always hauling them along to one class or another, encouraging them to join him in the serious pursuit not of good grades or a college degree but of a challenging and fruitful education. He brought several of them to my various classes and while they seldom had any preparation for the subject matter, Peter always managed to convince them they would be better for the challenge.”