Peter A. Siracuse

Game Day, Every Day
Peter Siracuse lived for competition. As a child he jockeyed for attention with his three older brothers. As a young adult, he took his aggression out on the gridiron and in lacrosse. He also played football in college.

So when Mr. Siracuse, 29, became a teacher and a coach at Bethpage High School on Long Island right after college, his family thought he was a natural, since he also loved children.

A little over a year ago, he married his high school sweetheart, Alana, and had a child of his own, Ryan Joseph, now 9 months.

"He was just so excited that he had a son and a child," said Matthew Siracuse, one of Mr. Siracuse's brothers. "That was probably the biggest thing in his life at this time."

Four years ago, Mr. Siracuse left the blackboard for the brokerage house. He quickly developed an affinity for his new job as a bond broker at Cantor Fitzgerald.

"He loved it; it was like game day every day," said George Siracuse, another of his brothers. "He loved the whole camaraderie of his co-workers. He loved the competition. He thrived on it."


Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 24, 2001.


Pete Siracuse, 29, rising corporate star Of all the brokers in Cantor Fitzgerald's industrial corporate bond department, Pete Siracuse was known as one of the most aggressive, culling in just two years a base of clients that normally takes seven to assemble.

"He was young and he was hungry," said Anthony Sichenzio of Warren, Mr. Siracuse's supervisor.

"He was definitely an up-and-coming star in the business," Sichenzio added. "I could tell you a thousand stories about Pete but what comes to mind most is his love and devotion for his wife, Alana, and his son, Ryan."

It was not unusual for Mr. Siracuse to start work at 7 a.m. and finish meetings with clients at 11 p.m., Sichenzio said.

So every day he would point co-workers to his desk where he kept a picture of his son, Ryan Joseph, now 8 months old.

"Everything I do I'm doing for the little guy," Sichenzio recalled him saying. "I'm doing it all for Alana and Ryan."

Mr. Siracuse, 29, was at work at One World Trade Center when a hijacked airliner slammed into the tower. Of roughly 60 workers in the industrial corporate bond department, 57 are missing, including Mr. Siracuse of Manhattan.

Mr. Siracuse was born and raised in Bethpage, N.Y., the youngest of six children.

As a child he was naturally aggressive and found an outlet in sports, said his brother, Matthew Siracuse of Short Hills.

Newspaper accounts single him out as a leading scorer for the Bethpage High School football team in the late 1980s and a lacrosse team midfielder known for winning as many as 15 of 17 faceoffs for his team in a single game. Long Island coaches voted him to the All-Nassau-County Lacrosse Team in 1990.

Later he would play football for Nassau Community College and Central Connecticut University before graduating from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

After college he worked as a high school history teacher and lacrosse coach but found it difficult to make ends meet on a teacher's salary, his brother said.

"He was pretty aggressive so it was a natural move for him to go into the bond broker business," said Matthew Siracuse. "It is extremely competitive and that's what got Pete's juices flowing."

Mr. Siracuse also is survived by his mother, Marilyn of Dingman's Ferry, Pa.; brothers George of Dingman's Ferry and Joseph of Albany, N.Y., and sisters Laura of Short Hills and Diane Beninati of West Berne, N.Y.