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Everything Was in Place

At 38, Michael Berkeley was soaring: following in the footsteps of his cousin, John Utendahl, one of the country's most successful African- American financiers, Mr. Berkeley recently founded his own brokerage firm, with 79th-floor offices in the north tower of the World Trade Center. He had a house in the Hamptons, two young sons, and had been married for more than 10 years to Lourdes Perez-Berkeley, a top portfolio analyst who is also a former Miss Puerto Rico.

But Mr. Berkeley, the son of a homicide detective and a head nurse, "was a regular guy, the greatest," said a cousin, Ronald Culberson, who described Mr. Berkeley as upbeat, warmly generous, welcoming. Another cousin, Ellen Turner, said that Mr. Berkeley and his wife, "never lost sight of themselves."

Husband and wife referred to each with a deference and respect that only seemed to increase during their marriage, Ms. Turner said. "There was a giddiness about them - they always joked and smiled around each other. They protected each other. He didn't create her and she didn't create him. They complemented each other."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 5, 2001.