.

.

 

Thomas Cahill: A Crowded 36 Years

 

Thomas Cahill knew his father, Jim, really wanted to win a recent golf tournament at the Metedeconk National Golf Club in Jackson, N.J. But that did not keep him from having some fun. He stuck a chunky cigar in his mouth, winked at the caddy and nonchalantly told his father: "Don't worry, big guy. It's all under control."

Then the younger Mr. Cahill sank the ball into a hole about 14 feet away. The Cahills, father and son, took home a trophy that day.

A natural athlete, the younger Mr. Cahill had skied in Utah and Colorado, trolled for fish in the Bahamas and putted on all the golf courses in Ireland by the time he was 36. He worked as a securities trader at Cantor Fitzgerald, and lived near his family in Franklin Lakes, N.J.

"He enjoyed life," said his mother, Kathleen. "And he fit an awful lot in during his 36 years."

.

From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times