Michael W. Lowe

Working for a Better Life
Although Michael W. Lowe loved junk food, he cut back three years ago after learning he had diabetes. "It changed his life completely," recalled his wife, Vivian Lowe. "He said he wasn't going to be a casualty."

Mr. Lowe, 48, also hung out with friends less and focused more on his family and future, his wife said. The couple gave up renting what she called "slum apartments" in East New York, Brooklyn, and bought a house in Canarsie, where there were better schools for their children: Charisma, 6; Jasmine, 11; Gary, 12; and Donovan, 14. And Mr. Lowe clocked as many hours as possible at his delivery job at Liberty Electrical Supply, showing up even when sick. The first stop on his daily route was a loading dock underneath the World Trade Center, said Liberty's chief financial officer, Stephen Mayer.

Mr. Lowe kept at least one indulgence: his beloved white 1993 BMW, which only he drove. On Sept. 10, he drove his wife to work, arriving a half-hour before her overnight cleaning shift at Amtrak began. In the car, they discussed renovating the house so Mrs. Lowe could open a day care center there, partly to see more of her children. "I'm still thinking about it," she said. "Because after everything that's happened, I believe that my children need me."