Jason D. Cayne

Jason Cayne, 32, his personality dazzled all

Jason Cayne once took his mother to a jewelry store in the old Manalapan Mall so he could buy her a diamond ring.

He was 9 years old.

His mother, Suzan, played along, as a salesman helped the boy pick out a dazzling gem.

Jason lowered his voice to ask how much it cost, and the salesman whispered that it was several thousand dollars. "That's a little more than I wanted to spend," he said.

It was typical of Jason Cayne to think big. He would grow up to be a partner and municipal bond broker for Cantor Fitzgerald in New York.

Mr. Cayne, 32, of Marlboro was working on the 104th floor in the North Tower of the World Trade Center during the terrorist attack on Sept. 11.

Friends called him Jake, a muscular weight lifter who had plenty of charisma and could make anyone feel as if he were their best friend.

"Often when we'd go on a guys night out in Manhattan or the Shore, we'd find ourselves in some bar engulfed by blaring music and by the 'high-fives' that invariably came his way from complete strangers in the crowd," said David Csatari, a longtime friend.

The father of three had an enormous sense of humor, recalled Jay Glazer, a senior writer for CBS Sportsline.

"He carried around a big set of keys, and I asked him if he was 'Schneider,' the janitor from 'One Day at a Time,' " Glazer said. "He would say, 'There's a leaky faucet in apartment 2-A. I'm on it!' And then he would run off. He was always cracking us up."

Glazer remembers watching him dance with his daughters at a friend's wedding. "He had no rhythm, but you could tell he was in heaven, and they were having the time of their lives," Glazer said.

Mr. Cayne had been a partner at Cantor Fitzgerald since 1995. He started his career in 1992 -- the same year he married his high school sweetheart, Gina Schulsinger.

He was born in East Northport, N.Y. His family moved to Manalapan when he was 3 and then to Marlboro. Mr. Cayne graduated from Manalapan High School in 1986, and, later, he earned a bachelor's degree from Kean College.

He is survived by his wife, Gina; three daughters, Suzann, Marissa and Raquel; his parents, Suzan and Jordan Cayne; a sister, Stephanie Cayne-Meiskin, and his grandparents, Morton Molinsky and Miriam and Albert Cayne.

A memorial service will be held Sunday at noon at Temple Ohel Simha, 295 Park Ave., Elberon.