Vladimir Tomasevic

Payer of Compliments

Vladimir Tomasevic would find a way to offer a compliment even when a compliment might seem a bit of a stretch. For instance, he always enjoyed the cooking of his wife, Tanja, and for good reason. She cooked well. But like anyone, she had her bad moments.

"One time I oversalted some potatoes that I was baking," she said. "He ate them all, even though I couldn't. He even complimented me on the potatoes. My father was there at the time, and he said, `You are so lucky.' Another time, it was a new recipe and I put in too much hot pepper. It was really hot. He said, `It's a bit hot, but it's good.'"

Mr. Tomasevic, 36, lived with his wife in Toronto, and was a vice president for software development at Optus e-Business Solutions. On Sept. 11, he was attending a Risk Waters Group conference on information technology at Windows on the World.

Fond of sports, he played tennis and had recently taken up golf. He did both with his wife. Although he was much better than she was at tennis, he was always patient with her. "He would let me score here and there," she said.

In golf, their abilities matched more closely. "He had a bit of a slice, but my shots were really straight," she said. "He was a bit better, but I was close."