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In Remembrance
Age:
29
Place of Residence:
Hoboken, NJ
Location on 9/11:
One WTC
Occupation:
Carr Futures | Commodities Trader
Reflections:
The New York Times Portraits of Grief
Obituary
James K. Samuel, Jr. Athletic Scholarship

Legacy Tributes

Biography:

He appreciated the finer things in life, to be sure, things like his silver Porsche or nights out and trips with his girlfriend, Jackie Curcio. He and a buddy at Carr Futures in Manhattan would have their famous bets, too, like the one that ended with a gala party at Willie McBride's tavern in Hoboken last January.

But Mr. Samuel, who was known as Jim, also gave a lot in different ways. A commodities trader, he volunteered to work holidays so co-workers with families wouldn't have to. He kept in close touch with another colleague who had been laid off, telling others he wished he could trade places with his friend, who had children to support.

On Sept. 9, Mr. Samuel took his 3-year-old niece, Mikayla, to one of her all-time favorite places: the Statue of Liberty. She told her mother afterward that she wished she could move in with "Uncle Jimmy."

Two days later, Mr. Samuel was working on the 92nd floor of World Trade Center's North Tower when it was struck by a hijacked airplane. He was 29.

Mr. Samuel's father recalled a son who was generous with both his friends and his talents. As far back as he could remember from the young man's upbringing in South River and Jamesburg, James Samuel Sr. described his namesake as a "real worker."

"Since he was 14," said the elder Samuel, who lives in Jamesburg. "He always had paper routes, then that first job at the cleaners, and then Forsgate Country Club . . . He always had something going."

At Forsgate, Mr. Samuel took up golf, a game he continued to love throughout his life. "And he held his own out there," said his father.

Mr. Samuel was a 1989 graduate of Monroe High School, before attending West Virginia University, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in finance. He joined Carr Futures in 1997.

In addition to his father, Mr. Samuel is survived by his mother, Linda; sister Jennifer Agresto of Sayreville; grandmother Marian Fritz of Whiting, and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

Profile by John Mooney published in THE STAR-LEDGER