Mark Petrocelli

At Long Last, a Broker
Mark Petrocelli toyed with the idea of becoming a guidance counselor, a teacher or a firefighter like his father. But he got hooked by the hurly-burly of the commodities trading floor and chose a raucous occupation that members of his close- knit circle in Staten Island say seemed out of character for a kindhearted man who loved entertaining his friends and family. "People would say, 'I can't believe that's what he does for a living,' " said his wife, Nicole.

After six years as a phone clerk delivering orders to the brokers in the pit, Mr. Petrocelli, who was two days short of his 29th birthday, had finally become a broker himself, starting in his new position just days before the attack.

The Petrocellis normally had breakfast together before he left for work at the World Financial Center, where his job with Carr Futures was based. But on Sept. 10, Mr. Petrocelli told his wife that he planned to leave the house at 6:30 a.m. the next morning to go to the World Trade Center. It was his first brokers' meeting, he said, and he did not want to be late.