Patrick J. McGuire

Envelope of Jokes

Where it was, filed under I-J, when Danielle McGuire was looking for the insurance papers of her husband, Patrick. A big manila envelope of jokes. The Wall Street kind, from 1988. And even though her home in Madison, N.J., had been like a funeral parlor for days, "everyone just had a laugh," she said. "It was true Pat. It was almost like they were planted there on purpose."

Mr. McGuire, 40, was a money broker at Euro Brokers but had wanted to be remembered for a more important role: father to Sean, 10, Ryan, 8, Mara, 4, and Shea, 3.

"He had told the boys years ago, when they would bust his chops, 'On my tombstone I want Best Dad Ever because I spend so much time with you,'" Mrs. McGuire said. He would paint his girls' nails when they were in a giddy mood to help calm them down, his wife recalled.

"He was known by everyone for his sense of humor, his great Irish sense of humor. He could make any bad situation better by telling a joke," she said. "He was very, very devoted. He was my best friend."


Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 26, 2001.


Patrick McGuire, 40: He was a great dad Patrick J. McGuire of Madison was seldom spotted without a child in tow, whether it be on an evening bike ride or at a Little League baseball game. He would come home early to be with his children, and he told them that all he ever wanted on his tombstone was: "He was a great dad."

He also loved to laugh and make others laugh. Even as he sat in the emergency room recently, bleeding from a wayward baseball that hit him in the nose, he could not keep from smiling and joking and easing his family's worries.

"He made the worst things seem better," said his wife, Danielle McGuire. "He was a great father and husband and a loving man to almost everybody."

The family was sleeping when Mr. McGuire, 40, left for work Tuesday morning at Eurobrokers, on the 84th floor of Two World Trade Center. A couple of hours later, they called to chat. He talked to all four of his children, about the football game the night before, about the planned events for the day ahead.

At 8:55 a.m., after the first plane hit the other tower of the World Trade Center, he called his wife to say he was leaving. He went to the bathroom with a colleague and, while there, they heard an announcement that the damage was confined to that tower, so everyone could go back to work. His colleague left; he stayed.

Mr. McGuire was born in Rockville Centre, N.Y., and grew up on Long Island. In 1982, he graduated from Fairfield University in Connecticut. He met his wife through mutual friends at a Manhattan restaurant, and they were married in 1988. They had four children -- Sean, 10; Ryan, 7; Mara, 4, and Shea, 2.

He was a member of St. Vincent's Church in Madison, was involved in schools and coached church leagues and Little League.

"He just loved being around children," said Susan Souza of Chatham, who became friends with the McGuires after their sons met. "He and Danielle were such a wonderful couple. They were definitely the other half of each other."

In addition to his wife and children, Mr. McGuire is survived by his mother, Marion McGuire Carr of Long Island; his brothers, James, Terrence, Thomas and John; and his sisters, Kathleen Murphy and Maureen Simpson. He is predeceased by his father, Eugene, and his stepfather, Frank Carr.