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Howard Lee Kane: No Words for the View

 

Having struggled with Crohn's disease, an intestinal illness, for most of his life, Howard Lee Kane had little patience for anyone in a bad mood. His tonic was laughter, and whether it was a new joke he would e-mail to friends or a funny story about that day at the office, he had the gift to make people smile.

Mr. Kane, 40, was the comptroller at Windows on the World, a job he loved, said his wife, Lori, because it combined his passion for cooking with a view he called "halfway to heaven." Mr. Kane, who lived in Hazlet, N.J., put in long days that began at 4:30 a.m. He commuted more than an hour each way. But his only complaint about work, his wife said, was that he lacked the words to describe the sunsets and view.

He had little time during the week to cook or chat with the couple's 11-year-old son, Jason, so Sunday mornings became a father-son-only time for waffles and fishing down at the dock. "They were best friends," said Mrs. Kane.

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times