Son of Judy Rowe, of Johannesburg, South Africa. A native of South Africa, Nick Rowe told friends he had come to the U.S. in part because it was safer than his homeland. He was comfortable and confident and competent in virtually any business and social situation, said Adiathia Padala, chief executive officer of Rowe's employer, UmeVoice Inc., a voice recognition system for Wall Street traders. "He dealt with the very high-end Wall Street customers," Padala said. "He would walk into the room and get people to smile. It didn't matter what kind of people they were." Rowe, 29, of Hoboken, N.J., had worked at UmeVoice for nearly four years and had been in the U.S. for several years before that. He liked to play rugby and snow ski. Padala had pegged him to open the company's London office next year, which thrilled Rowe. "I'm going to miss a lot of things about him," Padala said, "but mostly it's his confident smile, his voice at the other end of the line." Rowe was on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower setting up a display at a trade show. Padala had lost his keys before they arrived and went looking for them instead of accompanying Rowe to set up the exhibit. "Oh, don't worry about it," Padala recalled Rowe saying, "I'll take care of it." His body may have been repatriated to South Africa after being found in rubble.