Christopher M. Dincuff

He Knew How to Share
What his friends and family will tell you about Christopher Dincuff, who would have been 32 today, an assistant trader for Carr Futures, is that he was always smiling.

"He always made people feel welcome," said his mother, Joan. "I never had to teach him how to share." He became the center of a large circle of friends, some of whom had known him since childhood in South River, N.J. All of them learned that if the Villanova Wildcats were playing basketball, he had to hear or see the game.

"He has driven his car to remote places just to get the Villanova game on the radio," said Garth Smalley, his best friend. Mr. Dincuff's father, Jim, a Seton Hall graduate, accompanied him to Seton Hall-Villanova games.

Mr. Dincuff's proposal to his fiancee, Angie Gutermuth, last February encompassed several passions at once. As Ms. Gutermuth opened the door to her apartment, exhausted after business-school exams, she discovered a trail of rose petals, illuminated by candles, that led to Mr. Dincuff, dozens of helium balloons arrayed around him. There was champagne, and music, and a ring he had designed himself. He arranged for her to have a manicure the next day, at the same time there was a Villanova game on TV.

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


Christopher Dincuff, 31, a romantic

His friends called him "The Mayor of South River."

Growing up, Christopher More Dincuff was a class president and member of three varsity sports teams at South River High School. Long after he moved away, he was still a fixture at football games and other events in his small Middlesex County hometown.

He knew the town so well, friends would blindfold him, drive him to some obscure corner and have him guess what street he was on. He was usually right.

"He knew everybody. He knew where everybody lived," said his mother, Joan, who still lives in South River.

Mr. Dincuff of Jersey City formed similar close bonds with co-workers at Carr Futures, where he was an energy group account executive. He died when terrorists attacked One World Trade Center on Sept. 11. He was 31.

Born in New Brunswick, Mr. Dincuff earned a business degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. Before starting his financial career, he worked for a minor league baseball team in California, indulging his passion for sports.

He and his fiancée, Angela Gutermuth of Boonton, were planning a September 2002 wedding.

"He was a hopeless, hopeless romantic. He always made everything special for me, even ordinary days," Gutermuth said.

In addition to his mother and fiancee, Mr. Dincuff is survived by his father, Frank, and stepmother, Eileen, of Piscataway; two sisters, Beth of North Brunswick and Amy of South River; a brother, Ian of Piscataway, and grandmothers Helen Rojek and Helen Dincuff, both of South River.