Lamar Demetrius Hulse

Honored His Grandmother

Lamar Demetrius Hulse commanded attention on the basketball court. He was 6 feet 4 inches tall and nearly 300 pounds. Friends called him "Big Man." He could have commanded attention at parties, too. But usually he preferred a quiet evening at home listening to music or watching television, his mother said, especially if the Lakers were playing.

In October 2000, Mr. Hulse moved out of his mother's apartment in Harlem to live with his grandmother, Gertrude Hulse, 74, who lived 21 blocks to the south. "He moved in with her because she was alone," Linda Hulse said, "and so I could give his room to my younger son."

Mr. Hulse, 30, was a security guard for Advantage Security, which assigned him to Marsh & McLennan in 1 World Trade Center. Though he often stayed at his girlfriend's apartment in the Bronx, he always called his grandmother to check in. "He would always pick up my medicine, go to the store for me," she said. "Every payday he would call me and say, `Do you need anything, Grandma?' "

In that apartment, five blocks north of Central Park, tears welled up in Gertrude Hulse's eyes as she picked up a year-old Valentine's Day card from her living room counter. "This is the last card he got for me," she said.