Scoring One for Dad
The death of John P. Salamone is hard for his wife and worse for his children. He had three: Alex, 6, Aidan, 4, and Anna 3. "They have their good days and bad days," said his wife, Mary Ellen. "Halloween was awful. John did the trick-or- treating. They missed him. Alex told his teacher that mom tried to make it a happy day for him but he couldn't help but be sad. He missed his dad."
So their mother took them to the hockey game like their father used to do -- she thought that would be nice. Then the boys had to go to the bathroom. They just looked at her. "It was like, 'What do we do now?' "
Mr. Salamone, 37, brokered preferred stocks for Cantor Fitzgerald. "He actually loved his job, loved the guys he worked with. But he didn't love anything more than his kids," she said.
He coached the boys soccer team in West Essex, N.J., as well. And it was hard for the boys to look on the sideline and not see their father there. The league shut down for two weeks in honor of his memory. When play resumed, Alex scored the first goal.
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 5, 2001.John Salamone, 37, a song and a danceEach day when he walked in the front door of his North Caldwell home, John Salamone would call out to his 3-year-old daughter, Anna. "Prince Charming is home!"
Anna, the youngest of three, loves playing the role of Cinderella, and her father liked to indulge her fantasies. A playful Mr. Salamone would sing and dance with her around the room.
"He could make my kids smile and laugh like nobody else," said his wife of 10 years, Mary Ellen Salamone. "They just waited for him to come home and play with them. He left business at work."
Mr. Salamone, 37, a preferred stock broker with Cantor Fitzgerald, is among the missing since Sept. 11, when a hijacked aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center. He worked on the 104th floor of Tower One.
Mary Ellen Salamone was not able to speak to her husband the day of the terrorist attacks, but knew that he had tried to call home after reviewing her cell phone bill. The call never went through.
More than 1,000 people came to pay their respects to Mr. Salamone at a Memorial Mass at St. Aloysius Church in Caldwell. The large turnout was a testament to his character, Mary Ellen Salamone said.
"What everybody says about him is that he had an amazing sense of humor. In any situation, he would find the lighter side of it and make you laugh about it," she said.
Sports was a big part of Mr. Salamone's life. He would take his sons -- Alexander, 6, and Aidan, 4 -- to play golf on Sundays at the Essex Fells Country Club, where he was a member. He played soccer in high school and college and, most recently, in town. Mr. Salamone coached his son's Little League team.
He grew up in Fairfield, graduating from West Essex Regional High School. He earned a business administration degree from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, then later graduated with a master's in business administration from Fordham University.
He previously worked at Quick & Reilly in New York, joining Cantor Fitzgerald in 1998.
Mr. Salamone enjoyed nothing so much as spending time with his children, his wife said.
"He would chase after them, catch and tickle them," she said. "He did everything with them -- take them to the park all the time, taught them how to ride their bikes."
In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Salamone is survived by his mother, Madeline Reed of Lewiston, N.Y.; his father, Benedict Salamone of Whippany; a grandmother, Rose Catalano of Niagara Falls, N.Y.; two brothers, Michael Salamone of North Carolina and Thomas Salamone of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.; two sisters, Catherine Sauer of Denville and Michelle Cataline of North Carolina; and eight nieces and nephews.
Memorial contributions can be made to an educational account set up for Mr. Salamone's children. Donations may be mailed to Credit Suisse/First Boston, Ref: John Salamone Children Accounts, 80 Sherwood Road, Ridgewood, N.J. 07450.
