Thomas Edward Galvin

After Hours, Soaring Drives

When it came to soaring drives, pinpoint irons, mental toughness, Thomas Galvin had the whole package. He played a mean game of golf. Fortunately for his opponents, he worked a lot, and that limited the number of tournaments he entered.

A member of Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y., Mr. Galvin managed to maintain a scratch handicap even while putting in long hours at the office. Most players would drool over that handicap.

But as a senior vice president and corporate bond broker at Cantor Fitzgerald, Mr. Galvin never found enough time to play extensive competitive golf. His hope was that his schedule would lighten up enough that next summer he could compete in more area tournaments.

Mr. Galvin, 32, who was single and lived in Manhattan, took up the game when he was 10, and immediately demonstrated an unusual gift. He was captain of his high school team in Greenwich, Conn., and was named to all-state and all-county squads. He was also captain of the varsity team at Georgetown University.

"He always had a wonderful swing," said his mother, Diverra Galvin. "He didn't take a lot of lessons. He just seemed to know how to play."

On Sept. 23, Mr. Galvin was supposed to leave for Ireland, to be the co-captain of a team from Winged Foot in the first Emerald Cup match between players from American and Irish clubs. It would have been his first trip to Ireland, a favorite destination, in years.

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 11, 2001.


An all-state golfer in high school, Thomas Galvin served as captain of Georgetown University's golf team for two years before he graduated in 1990.

Even after he embarked on a successful business career, Galvin, 32, remained a competitive amateur golfer. He was a longtime member of the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., a frequent U.S. Open site, and was one of the club's top players. His handicap was 1.2.

The youngest of four children, Galvin grew up in Greenwich, Conn. For the past seven years he worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, where he was senior vice president and corporate bond broker. He worked on the 104th floor of the trade center's north tower.

More than 1,000 people attended a memorial mass in Greenwich and both ESPN and Golf World magazine have noted his passing, older brother John Galvin Jr. said.

"He'll be remembered as an individual with incredible integrity and just a character beyond reproach," John Galvin said. "He's part of a national tragedy and he's a hero, but to us he's a brother that we lost . . . who can't be replaced."