William David Lake
Sep 10, 2024
Tough Guy or Pussycat? When Billy Lake was 7 years old and it was time for dinner, his mother, Helen, always knew where to find him: at the firehouse two blocks away, where Billy would peer at the trucks and chat with the men. "He loved to be over there," Mrs. Lake said. On Sept. 10, Firefighter William Lake, 44,...
Michael Quilty
Sep 5, 2024
Giving Away His Time If it moved, he was on it. If it was water, he was in it. Michael Thomas Quilty, 42, flew a plane, owned a boat and rode his bike from his home on Staten Island to Ladder House 11 in Lower Manhattan, where he was a lieutenant in the Fire Department. On Sept. 5, Lieutenant Quilty...
Kenneth Swenson
May 25, 2024
Man of Inner Peace Leslie Swenson's favorite memory of her husband, Kenneth Swenson, is the day of the balloons. It was late May or early June, and the couple and their two sons, 10-year- old Kyle and 13-year-old Eric, were at a local field in Chatham, N.J. kicking a ball around. Suddenly, balloons of all colors floated from the sky...
Michael L. Collins
May 25, 2024
Winning Against Diabetes Michael Collins skied and snowboarded down mountains all over the world. He went rock climbing in Japan. He rode a mountain bike, hard, on the back roads of Hawaii. Oh, and he had lived with diabetes since childhood, injecting himself with insulin three times a day. "We would be on lift lines, and he would be checking...
Thomas J. Kennedy
Sep 14, 2023
Last Wishes, First Steps Thomas J. Kennedy had the sort of welcoming face that babies and children love. Wherever he went, they would try to make friends. "He would treat kids as if they were adults," said a brother, Bob. "Then he could play the kid himself, at the same time." A firefighter with Ladder Company 101 in Brooklyn, Mr....
Soo-Jin Lee
Sep 11, 2023
Always on the Move A safari last year. Paris in May. Skiing in Chile in July. Did Stuart Lee ever sit still? Apparently not. On Sept. 10, in fact, he and his wife returned from a trip to Japan and his native Korea. Good thing he had a travel agent handy — his wife, Lynn Udbjorg. "He loved the best...
William A. Mathesen
Sep 11, 2023
William Mathesen, 40, a life full of music On the day his first daughter was born, William A. Mathesen returned to his Morris Township home and penned a song about his baby girl, Emily. He called the tune "Emily, I Believe in You," and wrote: "As long as I have your love, I'll never be alone. I know you will...
Tu-Anh Pham
Sep 10, 2023
Determination Defined a Life Meeting Tu-Anh Pham for the first time, you'd notice that she emoted from head to toe, like "a tiny little live wire who just smiled and glowed," said Frank Durham, an investor in the brewery she wanted to build in the Virgin Islands. Hurricanes would defeat the concept, but it was just one adventure in her...
Gregory Wachtler
Sep 9, 2023
I.D. and Aspirations On Sept. 9, Gregory Wachtler took his father and a cousin from Belgium up to his office on the 93rd floor of 1 World Trade Center. It was Sunday and the building was closed, but Mr. Wachtler flashed his company I.D. to the guard. A research associate at Fred Alger Management, he had his run of the...
Marcus R. Neblett
Aug 29, 2023
What His Sister Knows To his family, what defined Marcus R. Neblett wasn't his job at Aon, the insurance company, on the 98th floor of the south tower, or the suit and tie he enjoyed wearing to work — modeling himself after his father, Colin, a field engineer for I.B.M. in the Wall Street area. It wasn't his love of...