By Mickey Kim
For The Republic
The 2001 attacks occurred on the East Coast, but it was very close and personal for me and my firm.
Will Raub was a broker for Cantor Fitzgerald and started covering Kirr, Marbach in 1985. Will was 22, right out of Sienna College. We could not imagine how he could possibly add value. What he lacked in experience, he more than made up for in persistence and effort. Over the next 16 years he would prove time and again our initial impression was wrong.
Will quickly became a senior executive and could easily have passed us off to a junior broker. I know he was mightily tempted on occasion, but never did. We formed a bond over the years because we both tried to conduct our respective businesses the same way — treating people with whom you do business with dignity and respect and always putting your customer’s best interests above your own or your firm’s interests.
In the “good old days,” brokers were known as “customer’s men (or women)” because they worked for their customers’ best interests. Period. Will was the epitome of the customer’s man and a true friend. He did a great job for us and for our clients.
Will was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center. He was 38 and left behind his wife, Maureen, 6-year old Chase and 3-month old Liam.
His obituary from 2001 said he almost didn’t go to work on Sept. 11, because he had a stomach bug, but decided to try putting in half a day. He thought the World Trade Center was the safest building to work in, thanks to security measures after the 1993 bombing, when he helped a flagging co-worker down 104 stories, stopping to rest with him every few flights.
“That was just so Will, to always be thinking of other people,” his wife said.
Will was a New Yorker, but loved Columbus. He visited several times, including surprising Jenny and me when we were co-chairs for the UnCommon Cause in 1989.
We miss Will’s laughter, humanity and expertise, but we will never forget.
Politicians love to demonize “Wall Street” as if it is a greedy monolithic being. The financial services industry has its scoundrels, but the truth is the vast majority of folks working in it are ordinary, honest and hardworking, trying to help companies raise capital and people invest for their futures. We lost an extraordinary one 20 years ago.
To read more from our readers about what they remember from 9/11, see Page A5. Further coverage is available at therepublic.com.
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