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Helping the Unfortunate

Never judge a broker by his collar. Take Gary Albero. He was a good insurance broker: urbane and vigorous, and he could sell. That's what led him to 2 World Trade Center for a breakfast meeting. But it was not the money or the numbers that appealed to him, said his wife, Aracelis. "He liked talking," she said. "He liked people and the job fit him."

Consider the private life of Gary Albero, who was 39 and lived in Emerson, N.J. He often volunteered at a local homeless shelter and sometimes slept there because he was interested in the lives of the homeless. He would come home, put on a white collar and go off to conquer Wall Street.

Gary Albero met a boy some years ago who came from a troubled family. Mr. Albero took him under his wing, took him to ball games and coached him in football.

When it was time for the young man to go off to college, Mr. Albero was there to help pack his belongings and drive him to his dormitory. They hugged; the man gave the boy some money and reminded him that he could be anything he wanted to be.

The Alberos had their own child, a boy, a year and a half ago. "That was the happiest day of his life," Mrs. Albero said.

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 2, 2001.