Howard Kane refused to let anything get him down.

"He never let anything put a damper on life," said Lori Kane, his widow. "He had Crohn's disease [a painful disease of the intestines] and had to take about 40 pills a day to keep him out of the hospital. But he never let it get to him."

On Sept. 11, 2001, Kane was on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center when a plane, hijacked by terrorists, crashed into the building.

Kane was a 1983 graduate of the Behrend campus of Penn State. He worked as a comptroller, a member of management in finances, for the famous Windows on the World restaurant. He began the job after the restaurant re-opened following the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

Kane

At Windows on the World, Kane was able to combine his love for cooking with a group of co-workers who were as tight-knit as family, Lori Kane said.

"It was his dream job," she said. "He used to say that it looked like you owned New York City when you looked out of those windows."

It was the family-like atmosphere that Kane cherished the most about the restaurant, Lori Kane said.

Kane lived in Hazlet, N.J., and commuted two hours to work. He arrived at work at about 7:15 a.m. every day, even though he didn't have to be there until 10 a.m. He just wanted to make sure everything at work was right for the start of the day, his wife said.

Also, Kane loved to teach. He was an instructor at New York University where he taught accounting to those majoring in the restaurant business.

"After Sept. 11, I got e-mails from former students telling me how much fun he made the class," Lori Kane said. "He made himself available to them [the students] at all times -- he even gave out our home phone number."

Even though Kane was dedicated to his job, he always reserved time for his family on the weekends.

Most of all, Kane cherished the father-son time he spent with his 12-year-old son Justin. It was a Sunday tradition to go fishing on the dock.

"Justin loved his dad so much," Lori Kane said. "They were so close. One of the things he said he misses most are those fishing trips with his dad."

Also, they would go on bike rides for hours -- with no particular destination in mind. "I had no idea where they would go, but they would be out for hours just riding bikes and spending time together," she said.

The day Justin graduated from pre-school, Lori Kane remembers turning around and seeing her husband's face. Teardrops trickled down his cheeks as he watched his son walk down the aisle to get his diploma. "It's just so sad that he will never get to see Justin graduate ever again," she said.