Kevin Raymond Crotty

Children at the Bakery
The ladies behind the counter at a bakery in Summit, N.J. used to look forward to Saturday mornings when Kevin R. Crotty would show up with his three children. With wild candy-store looks in their eyes, Megan, 7, Kyle, 5, and Sean, 2, would load up on cookies and chocolate and glazed doughnuts and doughnut holes.

But it has been more than a month since Mr. Crotty took his children to the bakery. Mr. Crotty, 43, worked as a bond trader at Sandler O'Neill & Partners on the 104th floor of 2 World Trade Center. Besides the bakery, he could be seen taking the children to soccer practice and dance lessons.

"I've been very open with them about it," said his widow, Lori Crotty. "The more I talk about it, the more comfortable they are. Sean is having a hard time, but it's going to take time."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 16, 2001.


Kevin Crotty, 43, accomplished athlete

Kevin R. Crotty could never keep still. From his job as a bond trader at the World Trade Center to his home in Summit, where he resided with his wife, Lori, and three children, Mr. Crotty's life was a swirl of activity, and his list of accomplishments long.

An all-city star in basketball and baseball at St. Ignatius Loyola High School in Manhattan, Mr. Crotty was a cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, where he majored in economics. At the age of 23, he became one of the youngest traders for Lehman Brothers on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. But his life in recent years was very much focused on home.

"I used to kid him because he wasn't a handyman," said his wife. "But he did everything else -- the dishes, the laundry. He was a real family man. He worked his schedule so that he didn't have a lot of business dinners to go to."

One occasional indulgence was the theater. "When he saw something he liked," said Mr. Crotty's mother, Mary, "he would take us and go back and see it again."

Mr. Crotty, 43, worked on the 104th floor of Two World Trade Center as a managing director of the investment firm Sandler O'Neill & Partners.

Mr. Crotty, who grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, was also a catcher on a semi-pro baseball team in New York for several years. After college, he considered playing professional basketball in Europe. He was especially excited about his son Kyle beginning to play soccer.

"Kyle scored his first goal on Sunday (before the attack)," said Lori Crotty, "and Kevin had the biggest smile on his face. I'm so happy that he got to see that."

In addition to his wife, Mr. Crotty is survived by his children Megan, 7; Kyle, 5, and Sean, 2, as well as his parents, Raymond and Mary Crotty of Frederick, Md., and two brothers, Brian of Gaithersburg, Md., and David of Ijamsville, Md.

A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Presbyterian Church of New Providence. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Kevin R. Crotty Trust for Megan, Kyle and Sean, P.O. Box 1258, Summit, N.J. 07901, or the Kevin Crotty Memorial Fund at the Presbyterian Church of New Providence, 1307 Springfield Ave., New Providence, N.J. 07974.