Robert D. Pugliese

Suburban Dad
Robert Pugliese was a true suburban dad. He took the two-hour trip from his job as an assistant vice president at Marsh & McLennan to his house in East Fishkill, N.Y., in stride. As soon as he got home, there were bowling matches, basketball games and softball games to attend. Although his long trip prevented him from taking the lead in coaching his children's teams, he still kept score or coached at third base. When Mr. Pugliese's three children became teenagers, he took on a new role as their personal chauffeur, often driving them to and from part-time jobs. Sometimes he took them in his 1978 Thunderbird, a rust- brown hulk of a car with a peeling interior that he inherited from his father in 1993. "Everybody knew him because of that car," his wife, Maureen Pugliese, said. "As long as he put his key in the car and it started, that was fine with him. He didn't care what kind of a car he had."

The car, which is no longer running, is parked on the street in front of the family's home. It is a daily reminder of Mr. Pugliese. "Nothing was a problem," his mother, Josephine Pugliese, said. "He would say, 'Mother don't worry. As long as I've got my health, I'm the richest person in the world.' "