Ralph M. Licciardi

'Handsome Son of a Gun'
Ralph Licciardi could stuff his ear lobe into his ear and then wiggle the ear until the ear lobe fell out. Few people can do that. Mr. Licciardi was pretty funny, but not in looks. He was "a handsome son of a gun," his father, Sebastiano, said, and a very much a family oriented person.

Every weekend, Ralph's mother, Jo-Ann, would cook all day. Ralph; his wife, Jennifer; their children, Ralph Jr., 2 and Michael, 1; the other grown children, Anthony and Carmelanne; their spouses and offspring would go to their parents' house in Queens for a family feast. After they left, Sebastiano Licciardi said, "My wife would sit and talk about how lucky we were."

Ralph Licciardi, 30, was an electrician for the P.E. Stone Company. "I am lucky enough to do what I like to do, and get paid for it," he used to say. And on the morning of Sept. 11, he was doing just that, working on a job at the Aon Corporation, which was in the south tower of the World Trade Center.