Gavin McMahon

A Life of Adventure

Gavin McMahon was awfully adventuresome for an insurance executive. He loved Formula One racing, followed an Irish punk rock band called Stiff Little Fingers, and fractured his skull once when he fell out of a window where he had been playing air guitar.

A world traveler, Mr. McMahon, of Bayonne, N.J., made friends wherever he went. Since he disappeared Sept. 11 from the 105th floor of 2 World Trade Center, where he was meeting with colleagues at Aon, his girlfriend, Bridget Fitzpatrick, said she had heard from friends in Singapore, Australia, Paris, London, and Gavin's hometown, Chester-le-Street, England.

Mr. McMahon, 35, moved to New York five years ago, but he was still the Sunderland Football Club's biggest fan. The team, based in northern England, is expanding its stadium and Mr. McMahon's chums are building a wall there in his honor.

A celebration of Mr. McMahon's life was held recently at the North Moore Bar in Lower Manhattan, just as he had wanted it. "He was never, ever sad," Ms. Fitzpatrick said. "He squeezed every bit out of life that there was. His catchphrase was, `I hope I live before I get old.' And he really did."