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ERIC A. EISENBERG: The Troubleshooter

 

When computers crashed or Palm Pilots failed, friends called Eric A. Eisenberg. He would laugh at them -- a big, infectious laugh, his friends said -- and fix the problem. Colleagues at Aon tinkered with his computer to see if he noticed. He always did.

"Everybody in the world that he knew relied on him to fix what was wrong with their computers," said Heidi Cetron, who attended school with him in Plainview, N.Y.

Ms. Cetron went with Mr. Eisenberg, 32, in June to buy a car, a blue BMW. He was so excited that on the day of the purchase he wore a shirt of the same color, she said.

On Sept. 11, Mr. Eisenberg, who worked in the south tower, spoke to his mother and grandmother after the first plane hit the other tower. He assured them that he was evacuating, but his mother, Paula Shapiro, did not believe him. "I knew he was there trying to get other people out," she said.

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times