Joshua Poptean

Inspiring Hard Work
To pass "the Josh test" at Bronx Builders, a new employee had to be very good. Of all the project managers, Joshua Poptean was known as the most exacting, the man with the most indefatigable appetite for work.

He came across as defiant and argumentative, but new employees and clients alike quickly realized that his crustiness masked his fairness, loyalty and hearty sense of humor.

Mr. Poptean, 37, moved to Portland, Ore., from Romania with his family when he was a teenager, and he embraced his new country. He joined the National Guard; at a family reunion this Fourth of July, Mr. Poptean, an adored uncle, was the first to leap up and sing the national anthem. In New York City, he became deeply religious. He drove a taxi, learned carpentry and made his way to Bronx Builders, where he rose, eventually overseeing sites, including a bar for Windows on the World, on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center.

In the chaos of Sept. 11, Bronx Builders' supervisors around the city reported they were shutting down for the day. Finally, one supervisor, an immigrant himself and a protégé of Mr. Poptean's, called in from Brooklyn. His crew, he said emphatically, was continuing to work.