His Days on the Water
Daniel Rosetti was a carpenter by trade, but he loved and lived to fish.
Mr. Rosetti loved his days on the water so much that, from boyhood, he stuffed mementos of his trips ‹ and his luck ‹ in a zipper-lined photo album. Years later, at the age of 32, he was still doing that. But the album, full of pictures and newspaper clippings, has disappeared.
"That album was old, kind of falling apart, but it was his pride and joy," said Christine Bennett, Mr. Rosetti's fiancée and the mother of Justin, their 15-month-old son. "It is killing us, because we knew how important it was to him."
On Sept. 11, Mr. Rosetti, who lived in Bloomfield, N.J., was finishing up a two-day job at Aon, the insurance company, on the 105th floor of 2 World Trade Center. That day he had taken the train into Manhattan.
"We found his car that night," said his sister-in-law, Nancy Rosetti. "He was considerate. He was always around. He always had a fishing pole with him. But that album is missing in action."
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 18, 2001.
Daniel Rosetti, 32, carpenter in tower
After Daniel Rosetti completed his first day of work on the 98th floor of the World Trade Center, he told his fiancee he was thrilled to be above the clouds, above the airplanes and helicopters he saw flying in the distance.
He told Christine Bennett he felt like he was close to heaven.
On Tuesday, Mr. Rosetti, a carpenter, was working the second day of a two-day job at Aon Corp., on the 105th floor of the South Tower, when it was struck by an airplane in a terrorist attack. Mr. Rosetti was 32.
"He loved his job," said Robert Rosetti, his brother. "He found his niche."
Mr. Rosetti lived in Bloomfield with Bennett and their 14-month-old son, Justin.
Born in Belleville, Mr. Rosetti grew up in Newark and attended the Essex County Vocational Technical School in Bloomfield.
He was good at fixing things, anything, and was always ready to help his family and friends as soon as anything went on the fritz, said Bennett.
He enjoyed playing softball and would volunteer for every kind of charity game he could find. He was also an avid bowler, said Robert Rosetti.
But most of all, Mr. Rosetti enjoyed fishing. "If he could fish every day, he would have," said Bennett.
A devoted uncle, Mr. Rosetti often brought along some of his eight nieces and nephews on his fishing trips.
He looked forward to the day when Justin would be able to fish with him, his own tiny reel in hand.
"He loved his son more than he loved life itself," said Bennett, Justin's mother.
"He was a very family-oriented man," she said, adding that he never missed a birthday party for any of his family members.
"He was always on the go," his brother said. "It was almost like he would cram everything into life because he only had 32 years."
He is also survived by his mother, Shirley Rosetti, another brother, Ricki and two sisters, Sherry and Darlene.
Visitation is Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. and Wednesday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. A funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Newark at 9 a.m. Thursday.
