A wife remembers Wade Brian Green

Wade Brian Green, 42, of Westbury was a field service representative for Thomson Financial. He was at Windows on the World in the north tower setting up computer equipment for a three-day conference, his wife said. His remains were never found.

A wife remembers

In the years before Sept. 11, 2001, Wade Green had found religion. He began attending the Church of the Advent in his hometown in Westbury, joined his mother in the choir and volunteered in community projects.

During the annual strawberry festival, Green helped the church by setting up and taking down tents and tables near the site where a holly tree, his favorite, now stands in his memory.

When he wasn't helping at church, he'd help neighbors, shoveling snow or doing other chores, or be at home with family.

"He was a good soul," said his wife, Roxanne Green.

After her husband died, Roxanne Green, who worked in information technology, gave up a job with investment bank Bear Stearns and took part-time work at Glen Cove High School.

Although she took a pay cut, the job, which ended last December, had allowed her to be closer to home for their daughter, just 4 years old when her father was killed.

"I became a mother and a father," Green said. "Everything fell on my shoulders."

In her husband's name, Green set up a scholarship at Saint Angel High School for girls in Kingston, Jamaica, her alma mater. Every year, the Wade D. Green Scholarship Fund gives money to a girl -- who had done well academically but has financial needs -- to pay for higher education.

And she honored his memory in a simple gesture as well. She took all his ties, those he wore to work each day, and had a quilt made from them. It's put away safely now, but some day, when she's ready, she'll display it. -- Chau Lam