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One Office, Two Families

As the father of three girls who had gone to dancing school since they were toddlers, Edelmiro Abad, widely known as Ed, was a proud fixture at dozens of recitals. So it was with delight that he supported his middle child's aspiration to open her own dance studio someday.

"He was right there with me," said his daughter Jennifer, 23. "This was something he wanted as much as I did."

Mr. Abad, 54, who lived in Brooklyn with his wife, Lorraine, and three daughters ‹ including Rebecca, 26, and Serena, 19 ‹ was also a fixture at Fiduciary Trust Company International, where he was senior vice president and had worked for 26 years. The company was a second home, his relatives said, and its staff another family.

His family members have met with co- workers who shared offices with Mr. Abad on the 90th floor of 2 World Trade Center. "Some of the people who survived are devastated," Ms. Abad said. "They don't know how to go on."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 11, 2001.