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GENE CALVI: Mr. Fix-It on Wheels

 

As a teenager, Gene Calvi bought a used Honda motorcycle that promptly conked out on him. Undaunted, he studied the service manual and dismantled it piece by piece in his parents' garage. After fixing a faulty piston, he put it back together again. It rode better than ever.

The year after, he moved on to a Volkswagen Rabbit. Same result. "There was nothing he couldn't do, once he set his mind to it," said his brother, Alex. "That's exactly how he ran his life."

Mr. Calvi, 34, never ceased to surprise his family with his prowess. He was a bond trader at Cantor Fitzgerald who fixed his own car and talked about building one from a kit just for fun.

He took up running with his wife, Christine, and was soon entering five-kilometer races near their home in East Rutherford, N.J. Less than a year later, he finished his first marathon.

"He was the most serious, responsible guy," his brother said. "But he had this curiosity, and when he wanted to know something, he had to know everything about it."

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times