David B. Brady: A Soccer
Dad
At
41, David B. Brady had the trappings of success: an
office on the 39th floor of the World Financial Center,
where he was a first vice president at Merill Lynch, and
a home in Summit, N.J.
He also had his priorities: faith, family and friends.
A devout Catholic, he attended Mass almost every day and
occasionally wrote prayers, said his wife of 12 years,
Jennifer. But he never made a big deal of it.
"He would just say, `I'm doing a cameo,' " said Joy
Fingleton, an assistant.
And he made sure that his four children
&emdash;Matthew, 9; Erin, 6; Mark 4; and Grace, 2&emdash;
saw him every day. "If he had an evening meeting, he'd
stay home for breakfast," Ms. Brady said. "Or sometimes
he'd even come home for lunch."
He was an eager school volunteer. "I think it was
shocking to his clients, who would call to find out that
he was gone for an hour but he would be back from reading
in his daughter's class out in Summit, N.J.," Ms. Brady
said.
On Sept. 11, he went to 1 World Trade Center to meet
with a client on the 106th floor. Now, every night his
family prays for him with the words he taught them:
"Thank you, Jesus, for the love you bring. Thank you,
Jesus, for everything."
.
