Ervin Vincent Gailliard

All-Army Basketball Team
Ervin Gailliard never realized one of his biggest dreams because he was orphaned as a teenager. Having grown up in the South Bronx, he hoped to go to college like his older brother and sister, but it was not to be.

"He was very intelligent, and he always wanted to go to college, but the financial situation was never right," said his brother, Ronald. "By the time he was college age, our parents were dead, and he would have had to pay for it on his own."

But Mr. Gailliard, 42, would not allow himself to be kept down. He joined the Army, served in Germany and made the all- Army basketball team, his brother said. After his brother taught Mr. Gailliard chess, he soon was not only trouncing him, but was beating computers.

When he took a job as a security guard at the World Trade Center, he grew unhappy with the low wages and the way he was bossed around, so he helped bring in a union, and soon conditions were much better. He loved to listen to soft jazz with his wife, Cynthia, and he spent hours and hours teaching basketball and handball to his stepchildren.

"What impressed me most was how he always abided by the family rules ‹ you never fight, you never argue with each other," said his brother. "He was a very strong person. No matter how tough things got, he was always able to bounce back."