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Samuel Fields: Sports-Loving Deacon

 

Samuel Fields was a man of simple tastes. He loved Motown and the Beatles. He loved singing in the choir in the House of God Holy Church in Harlem, and he was thrilled to play bongos there. He also served as a church deacon, helping usher the elderly to seats.

Mr. Fields, 36, loved sports. He loved watching the Yankees on television, and the Mets, too. He often played basketball with his kids in the court just outside their apartment in the Martin Luther King Jr. Towers on 114th Street.

He also loved strolling around downtown with his wife of 10 years, Angela. Sometimes he showed her around the World Trade Center, where he worked as a $22,000-a-year security guard. "He was last seen on the first floor in the North Tower helping people get out of the building," she said.

He left four children: Samuel Jr., 11; Stefan, 7; Demetrius, 5; and Sharaia, 3. Last summer Mr. Fields learned that his wife was expecting a fifth child this March. "He was at first worried that we didn't have enough money," Mrs. Fields said. "I told him God would make a way for us, and he accepted it."

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times