John G. Ueltzhoeffer

A Super Bowl Family
Super Bowl Sunday was a family holiday for the Ueltzhoeffers. After all, John Ueltzhoeffer's first date with his wife, Uschi, was a Super Bowl XXIV party at his parents' house in 1990. More important, the first of the couple's three children, Sarah, was born on Super Bowl Sunday in 1994. "I'm in labor and John and the doctor are discussing the Super Bowl," Uschi Ueltzhoeffer recalled.

Sarah came into the world at 5 a.m. "We would always tell Sarah that she came a week late, that she waited for the Super Bowl," Ms. Ueltzhoeffer said. The couple watched the Super Bowl from the hospital.

Uschi was wide awake after giving birth, but John kept falling asleep on the couch after the all-nighter. Sarah was followed by Jacob, 4, and Rebekah, 3 ‹ neither of them born on Super Bowl Sunday.

Every year, the Ueltzhoeffers have a Super Bowl party at their house ‹ sometimes it coincides with Sarah's birthday party and they celebrate with cake. Uschi Ueltzhoeffer, who is from Austria, has developed a better understanding of football and the Super Bowl since her first date with the man who would become her husband. "We'll keep watching it," she said. "Just for the kids, we'll keep some traditions to remember."


Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 13, 2001.


John Ueltzhoffer, 36, lived his faith That John Ueltzhoffer met his future wife at a loud dance club does not really say much about the kind of guy John Ueltzhoffer was.

"It was one of those real noisy places," Ueltzhoffer's widow, Uschi, recalled fondly. "Neither one of us liked it that much, so we went outside and talked."

And they kept talking, and 18 months later, the couple were married. They celebrated their 10th anniversary in July, along with their three children -- Sarah, 7, Jacob, 4, and 3-year-old Rebekah -- at their home in Roselle Park.

A churchgoing Jersey guy, Mr. Ueltzhoffer, 36, was never much of a partygoer, his wife said, and the testimonies about his life after he was killed on Sept. 11, when the first hijacked plane struck Tower One of the World Trade Center, show the truth of that reckoning.

Mr. Ueltzhoffer worked for Marsh & McLennan on the 95th floor of the North Tower.

"He was really outgoing, he had real leadership potential," said Pastor Bill Rimondi of Christ Fellowship Church in Elizabeth, a charismatic, evangelical congregation where the Ueltzhoffers worshipped.

Rimondi said Mr. Ueltzhoffer taught classes on evangelism, talked about his faith to everyone he met, and even made missionary trips to the Dominican Republic. "It was very important in his life," he said.

And in the life of his family, which has found their Christian faith to be a great comfort, said Uschi Ueltzhoffer. "He just wanted to serve God," she said.

He also loved his family, and being around kids. Mr. Ueltzhoffer's love of model planes -- especially motorized remote control ones -- made him popular in the neighborhood. Vacations for Mr. Ueltzhofer meant time with family, and time with his children.

"In August we went to the Shore for a week, to Cape May," his wife said. "Every morning he would take one of the kids to the bagel store, just to spend time with them individually. They would take turns going with him."

As a software technician for Marsh & McLennan, an insurance corporation that was hit hard by the trade center catastrophe, Mr. Ueltzhoffer was computer savvy, and also spent a lot of time with his children on the home computer.

"I wish now I had learned more," his wife said. "The kids know everything about computers. I don't."

A memorial service will be held for Mr. Ueltzhoffer at the Dwyer House at Elizabeth High School, where Christ Fellowship holds its regular services, at 4 p.m. Oct. 28. Mrs. Uletzhoffer asked that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the congregation.