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MELVIN GERFIN JR.

Gerfin, 46, of Groton, Conn., was a father of three who liked heavy metal music, computers and NASCAR races.

He was recently laid off from Wyman-Gordon in Groton, a metal components factory. He had been busy working at home and worked cleaning the offices at New London radio station XL102, which gave out several free tickets to Great White show. Gerfin was among those who received a free ticket.

"He was a great father and husband and was loved very much by his family and friends," said Gerfin�s sister, Terry Robertson.

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JUDE HENAULT

Henault, 37, of Lisbon, Conn., was a mother of three who was an accountant in Foxwoods Resort Casino�s internal auditing department.

She had recently moved in with her boyfriend, Samuel Miceli Jr., who also was killed in the fire.

Family and friends described the two as fun-loving and vibrant, always willing to extend a hand to anyone in need.

Henault had worked at Foxwoods since 1995.

"She was very dedicated and efficient worker who truly knew her job," said Bruce MacDonald, a Foxwoods spokesman.

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TRACY F. KING

Life is often a balancing act and no one knew that better than Tracy F. King, who had the uncanny ability to balance large objects on his chin.

King, after an ear operation at age 13, acquired an acute sense of balance.

He balanced a 17-foot canoe on his chin during a 1993 appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

"He would take anything, like a motor scooter, lift it from the ground, up to his face, tilt his head back and rest it there," said his agent, Al Salzillo.

King, 39, learned about equilibrium and balance and would entertain and educate children during appearances in the area.

King, a graduate of Toll Gate High in Warwick, worked for the Warwick Department of Public Works.

"He was larger than life," Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian said of the colorful, 6-foot-2, 300-pound King. "He was the first employee I hired, beyond my staff here."

King was working his part-time security job at The Station on Thursday night. Patrons said King was trying to help people escape the fire, Avedisian said.

He lived in Warwick with his wife, Evelyn (Paolilli) King, and two sons, Joshua and Jacob King. A third son, Jordan, lives in Providence. He leaves five brothers and a sister.

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KEITH LAPIERRE

Keith Lapierre was a former marine who had left a stockbroking career to teach, so he could spend more time with his family. He had taken up guitar, and had a 22-month-old boy and another child on the way. He could talk a blue streak, and light up a room with his smile.

And he was wise beyond his 29 years.

"He had the wisdom of a 100-year-old man," said his father,

Richard Lapierre. "Sometimes, he would give me advice, and I�m the father. Sometimes I felt like we switched places."

Before he went to The Station with his friend, Adrian Krasinskas, who remains in critical condition, he had stopped by A.G. Edwards, his former workplace in Worcester, Mass., to see his old friends and his mother, who also worked there.

"If you would have gone to A.G. Edwards on Friday, you would have seen 50 stockbrokers crying," he said.

He had left behind the stock market to become a fourth-grade teacher because he loved kids, his father said.

The center of his life was his wife, Tammy, and their baby. The two had met on a blind date over ice tea at Tatnuck Bookseller in Worcester, not far from where they lived, and they were married only months later in a ceremony in Chatham, Mass.

"It was love at first sight for both of them," he said. "He loved his wife more than anything on earth, he loved his mother more than anything on earth, he loved his family, he never had a bad mood in his life," his father said.

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ANDREA MANCINI

Whenever her brother, Robert, made the trek to the University of Rhode Island, Andrea Mancini would cry like a crocodile, even though the campus was only about 45 minutes away.

"She was one of those people," said another brother, Peter Jacavone Jr. "She was always worrying about something."

Mancini, 28, of Johnston, was the ninth of 11 children. She was protective of her closest sisters and she would do anything for her parents, Peter and Jackie.

After her father had quadruple bypass surgery last fall, she was the one to make sure he took his medicine, Jacavone said.

Mancini worked the door at The Station, taking tickets and checking patrons� IDs. Her husband of 15 months, Steven Mancini, 39, was playing in a band opening for Great White. He was among the missing.

When she wasn�t working at The Station, she managed the family�s garden center in Johnston. She maintained a tough business stance with suppliers, a sunny rapport with customers - and always made sure to have finely manicured fingernails.

"She had opinions and she stuck to them. She didn�t take any grief from anyone," said Jacavone. "If she taught that somebody was being unfair or wrong, she�d let them know about it."

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KEITH MANCINI

He was a lucky fisherman and handsome bachelor who once masqueraded in the amateur wrestling ring as "Dr. Pain." But Keith Mancini�s dream was to be a rock star.

As a hard-rocking bass guitarist in Fathead, the 34-year-old figured his band was getting its big break opening up for Great White at The Station, a club that seemed like his second home.

"They were the hometown band for The Station," his brother, Craig Mancini, said. "That�s where their groupies went to see them play. They were so excited to open for Great White, because that�s one of the bands that they were really into."

Keith�s cousin, Steven Mancini, 39, was also in the band and is among the missing. Steven�s wife, Andrea Mancini, 28, worked at the club and died in the fire.

Rock �n� roll was Keith�s passion since he started playing bass as a teenager. In the warmer months, he�d spend his time fresh water fishing. And a few years back, amateur wrestling was his hobby.

"He called himself Dr. Pain," his brother said, unable to hide a laugh. "He used to walk into the ring with a long leather jacket and his hair hanging in front of his eyes."

But Dr. Pain had a softer side. He loved spending time with his girlfriend and her two sons. A few days before he died, he helped one of the boys build a Pinewood Derby car for the Cub Scouts.

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SAMUEL MICELI JR.

Miceli, 37, of Lisbon, Conn., was the kind of lucky guy who always seemed to win things in contests. Often, he would share his winnings with friends, family and co-workers.

He won tickets for the Great White concert from a radio station. He and his girlfriend, Jude Henault, went to the concert and perished in the fire.

Miceli was a music enthusiast who also loved animals, camping, and his new Harley Davidson, said his employer, Richard Deabay, owner of Tri-State Glass.

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JASON R. SYLVESTER

For Jason Sylvester, music was it.

"It was his most favorite thing," said his grandmother Bertha Sylvester, 78.

When he wasn�t working as treasurer for the family company, Sylvester Sheet Metal Co., the 25-year-old Coventry resident would sit in his room and listen to his comprehensive CD collection, ranging in genre from bluegrass to rock �n� roll.

Occasionally, he would see live music, like on Thursday night.

He was dressed up, excited to see Great White at The Station.

"He went out that night because he wanted the band�s autographs," said Bertha Sylvester, also of Coventry.

The quiet and thoughtful Coventry High School graduate with his mother�s looks enjoyed painting model sports cars. The loyalty to his family was evident in his desire to work for the family�s heating and air conditioning company.

"He was a very hard worker," Bertha Sylvester said. "He was very good to his parents. No matter what they asked him to do, he was right there."

Sylvester leaves his parents, Robert and Jane Sylvester and a brother, Jeffrey, all of Coventry.

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MICHAEL HOOGASIAN

Michael and Sandy Hoogasian were perfect neighbors. They never passed up a chance to chat with the other families living in their Cranston neighborhood and made sure to check on other homeowners after a rash of robberies hit the area.

Michael, 31, is among the confirmed dead in the nightclub fire.

Sandy is among the missing.

"They were always thinking of others," said neighbor Rachael Dunn, who remembered a generous couple that always brought over Christmas gifts and kept up their kindness throughout the year. "They were so young. They were openhearted and really cared."

But Thursday was always reserved as their night out. They wound up at The Station last week after Michael got two free tickets to the Great White concert from the band�s lead singer. The two met at a tattoo parlor.

"Every Thursday, they had a friend they went out with," said neighbor Ted Norberg. "Luckily, their friends didn�t have free tickets, too."

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TY LONGLEY

Ty Longley was a guitarist in Great White, the band whose pyrotechnics ignited the deadly nightclub fire at The Station.

The 31-year-old joined the band four years ago, long after it reached its heyday.

"Music was his life. He didn�t do anything else. I�d watch TV and he�d be playing 24-7," said Mark Zicari, 26, who shared an apartment with Longley in Los Angeles.

Longley�s favorite escapes were his family, his girlfriend and playing guitar, according to his Web site.

"He loved being on the road," said band publicist Byron Hontas. "To him, he had a perfect life. He had a girlfriend, a child on the way. Everything was so smooth to him ... he took care of business and was always willing to do anything and everything. He was one of those people who was fun being around."

He grew up in Brookfield, Ohio, and had a passion for the guitar from an early age, said Max Schang, his former guitar teacher.

He never let his success go to his head and stayed away from drugs and alcohol, Schang said.

"He�s the kid I never had," he said.

Longley was working on an album of his own, said his aunt, Judy Longley.

Marc Harrison befriended Longley when Longley joined Happenin� Harry & The Haptones.

"He was one of the only people who could make me laugh," said Harrison, known as Happenin� Harry. "He was one of the only people who could take me out of a stressful or bad moment and put a smile on my face. ... He could sense something was wrong and would go to any lengths to make you laugh until he was satisfied that he made you laugh enough - and then he�d keep going."

Longley�s girlfriend is four months pregnant, Harrison said.

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BRIDGET SANETTI

She was known as "Bri."

The 25-year-old teacher at an alternative school was stylish and caring. She reached out to everyone from students with emotional problems to alcoholics trying to dry out.

"She liked to shop," said Sanetti�s mother, Annmarie Swidwa of Fort Meyers, Fla. "She was a very good dresser."

Sanetti, of Coventry, went to the Great White show with her best friend, who was missing. They joined Bridget�s 38-year-old uncle, Ricky Sanetti, and his friends, who all escaped the fire. Ricky Sanetti went back inside to help pull people from the flames.

"He saved a lot of people," Swidwa said, "but he didn�t save Bridget and that was what he was trying to do."

Before the show, they chided Bridget for wearing a nice pair of jeans, high-heeled black boots and "all the right jewelry." She stood out amid the sea of concertgoers in sweat shirts and jeans.

Bridget didn�t really listen to Great White, but she went to the show to see people jamming to old tunes by rock stars with flowing wavy hair.

"She said it would be fun to laugh at all those people stuck in the �80s," her mother said.

She was a teacher at Hillsdale Alternative School in Woonsocket, dealing with troubled students. Swidwa said she wanted to start a scholarship there in Bridget Sanetti�s name.

Bridget previously volunteered at a center for alcoholics in Worcester, Mass.

"She could have made a lot more money doing something else, but that was where Bridget�s heart was," Swidwa said.

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DALE LATULIPE

From a young age, he loved drums. He was banging out a staccato beat before he could walk. He used to bang spoons on the table, said his father, Donald Latulipe of Randolph, Mass.

"Like Mozart played the piano at 3, he played drums," he said.

Father and son had different tastes. Dad loved classical. Dale loved rock and wore his hair long even at age 46.

"He wore his hair long, which we tried to fight many times."

Did he ever win? "Never."

Dale, who was divorced, still lived with his ex-wife in Carver, Mass., and ran a used car lot in Wareham, Mass., his father said. He had a 7-year-old son, Dustin, the "spitting image" of his dad.

Dustin also plays the drums.

Dale was a fan of heavy metal rock, especially Aerosmith.

"He followed the bands and that was his life. He did it all his life, until the day he died," his father said.

Donald Latulipe, who used to work at WRKO radio in Massachusetts, said his son once stopped by the station with a group of friends, dressed up like the band Kiss, right down the wild makeup and skintight pants.

"I nearly died a thousand deaths," he said, laughing.

Donald Latulipe said he had no idea his son was in Rhode Island until Saturday, when his ex-daughter-in-law told him Dale had died.

He�d only recently found his son�s birth certificate in a strongbox and had taken it out to send to him.

"He was a loving kid. He loved me, that�s for sure."

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ROBERT REISNER

Robert Reisner�s arthritis was so bad he had to stop driving trucks. The manual transmission was too much for his knees.

So he delivered pizza for a while and then became a school bus driver - the automatic transmission was easier on the 29-year-old�s joints, said his mother, Judy O�Brien, 50.

He worked hard for the little money he earned. And he was generous with what he brought home to his mother and brother in Coventry.

"We were homeless last year," O�Brien said. "We had to pull together our nickels to stay in a hotel for six months."

But when things were better financially, he would treat himself to concert tickets. He bought the Great White tickets as soon as they went on sale, O�Brien said. He was afraid the show would be sold out the night of the show. He went by himself.

"He went to Wal-Mart to buy a new outfit," she said. "He just couldn�t wait."

"Rob," as he was called by his friends, was generous with his time, like when his mother had thyroid cancer last year.

"There was a time when I could not walk for three months," O�Brien said. "All the kids - especially him - helped me. He was always there."

Reisner had two brothers, Ralph, 27, and Corey, 23. Corey Reisner was invited to the Great White concert, but he had to work late and couldn�t go.

The bus driving job was supposed to be a new chapter in Reisner�s life, said his brother Ralph.

"He had a good future ahead of him," Ralph Reisner said. "He

was definitely moving in the right direction - better benefits, more job security."

_______________________

DENNIS SMITH

Dennis Smith taught himself how to ride the unicycle when he was 5 years old. As he got older, he would dress up as a clown, wowing the neighborhood kids.

The 36-year-old man did occasional landscaping jobs and was an avid pool player who lived with his mother in their Pawtucket home.

"They just watched him," said Smith�s mother, Doris Smith, 69. "They were all eyes. He tried to jump the curb and do tricks. And they would clap for him."

She described her son as eager and generous, who was "always doing things for the kids."

Dennis Smith wasn�t a big music fan, she said, but he accepted an extra ticket to the Great White concert. He went to the show with a friend whose whereabouts weren�t immediately known.

He had one brother and two sisters.

_______________________

KATHERINE O�DONNELL

Katherine O�Donnell, 26, of Seekonk, Mass., wasn�t a huge Great White fan. She was just out having fun with friends, said her brother, Patrick O�Donnell.

"She was just very outgoing, very pleasant," he said. "She was a beautiful, beautiful girl. She�ll be missed."

The single woman, who was a medical assistant in East Providence, had five brothers and one sister. Her brothers doted on her and were protective.

She enjoyed movies and spending time with her family, friends and a new puppy she�d gotten just a few months ago.

_______________________

ANDREW R. HOBAN

What he lacked in natural ability, he made up for with his reliability, dedication and a sunny disposition.

Hoban, 22, lacked foot speed. He was quiet. But he was committed, emerging as a team leader on Catholic Youth Organization basketball and baseball teams. He was a talented self-taught amateur golfer too, working as a caddy and in the pro shop at Quidnessett Country Club in North Kingstown.

That�s all his coach, Richard Lamendola, could ask for.

Hoban, of North Kingstown, "was the kind of guy you never

really noticed, but he was the backbone of those teams," Lamendola said.

Hoban graduated from the University of Rhode Island in May, majoring in political science. He was working in personal finance and was planning to meet a business contact.

"He was really into 80�s music," said college roommate Mark Kwolek, 23, of North Kingstown, who remembered Hoban as a "comedian" with an infectious laugh.

Lamendola said Hoban�s dedication in youth sports would have translated to success off the court. What he lacked in natural ability, he made up for with hard work on tactical skills, outside regular practices.

"When he stepped to the plate, you knew you were going to get some action," Lamendola said. "You knew he was going to get a hit."

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STEPHEN M. LIBERA

When the rest of the servers at Longhorn Steakhouse in Warwick were running around, harried on a busy weekend night, Stephen M. Libera was "very calm, very well mannered," said manager Gary McCauley. "He was one of those guys, always level headed under pressure."

And when moods were down at the restaurant, McCauley said, Libera would "go back to the kitchen and crack a joke to lighten the mood."

Libera, 21, worked at the restaurant for about a year and a half, splitting time between a job at a local bank and classes at Community College of Rhode Island.

He was a bank teller and had been studying with hopes of becoming an accountant.

"He was a fantastic employee," McCauley said. "He was always responsible. He was always the person that you could rely upon to definitely be here."

Libera, tall, slender and affable, was chatty and charming, said neighbor Denise Merrill.

"You can get waiters sometimes who are very aloof," she said. "But not him. He was personable."

Libera told a few employees about the upcoming Great White show. "He was into bands," McCauley said. "He liked to go out to see live music a lot."

He left behind his father, John J. Libera, his mother, Joanne, and two sisters and a brother.

"We all lost a friend," McCauley said.

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DONALD RODERIQUES

The tattoos earned him the nickname "Inky." And some people said 46-year-old Donald Roderiques looked like Steven Tyler, the lead singer of the band Aerosmith.

"But I don�t think so," said his sister, Karen Cousineau, 40, of Fall River, Mass.

Roderiques, of Fall River, worked was "a big rock �n� roll fan," and a maintenance worker at a Massachusetts apartment complex, Cousineau said.

Roderiques had plans to see Great White at The Station as early as New Year�s Eve. He even asked Cousineau that night if she wanted to join him, but he never followed up with details, she said.

The day after the fire, Cosineau was holding out hope. Was that him on television? She wondered about the man that crossed the screen as she watched local coverage of the fire. She would be able to tell, if only she could see the tattoo on his neck.

She roamed from hospital to hospital, looking for him.

Roderiques wasn�t identified until Sunday.

She said Friday she wasn�t upset about the fire.

"It�s an accident," she said. "No one�s to blame."

_______________________

JUDITH MANZO

Vivacious. If there was one word to describe Judith Manzo, 37, friends say that was it.

"There was nothing that anybody could do to get Judy�s spirits down," said Karen Brown, Manzo�s friend and manager at the East Providence branch of First Choice Medical Staffing, where Manzo was an administrative assistant. "Even if somebody was angry or yelling or upset, she always saw the good in them. There was nothing bad about her. She always had something positive to say."

Manzo, lived in North Providence with her ex-husband, Anthony Manzo, and their two children, 10-year-old Brianna and Anthony, 12.

Brown, 42, said outside work, her life revolved around the lives of her children.

"She did everything from bowling to sledding to swimming with them," Brown said. "She did it all."

Brown said Manzo had gone to The Station with a friend who had bought tickets. The children were home with their father.

Brown said she will miss an excellent employee who can�t be replaced.

"Every single person - and I�m not saying this because she�s gone - every single person who met Judy loved Judy," she said.

_______________________

JAMES GAHAN

Jimmy Gahan had two loves: sports and music.

Six shoulder operations forced him to give up most sports, but he continued to pursue his love of music.

Gahan, 21, went to The Station in West Warwick on Thursday night to interview the band Great White for one of two shows he did for his radio station at Nichols College in Dudley, Mass., where he was majoring in business and communications.

Gahan loved being a disc jockey for the station, said his father, James Gahan. He loved classic rock and country music, and had amassed a collection of more than 600 compact discs, including many from the 1980s, when Great White made its name. At the time of his death, he had also been trying to get an interview with country star Tim McGraw.

His father said he had a cheerful disposition and many, many friends.

"He was generous to a fault, outgoing, and always wanted other people to have a good time," he said.

Jimmy Gahan, an only child of James Gahan and his wife Carol, attended Falmouth High School, where he played baseball, basketball and golf. His father said he loved baseball so much that he played through injuries. He underwent numerous shoulder operations, which affected his school career as a left-handed pitcher.

"If he didn�t have the injuries, he was a phenomenal baseball player," said his father.

_______________________

JOSEPH ROSSI

Friends remembered his ever-present smile and his love of motorcycles.

Joseph Rossi, 35, of Seekonk, Mass., owned a Harley-Davidson.

One friend recalled the first time she met him at the

Harley-Davidson Rendezvous - a retreat for motorcycle enthusiasts - in upstate New York two years ago.

"He was always smiling. The first thing I remember him saying to me was sit on my bike because you�ll look good on it," said Luanne Rossi, no relation.

She said they were surprised to learn they both had the same last name and both lived in Seekonk, but were not related.

"He was just a really good, fun-loving guy," she said.

_______________________

SHAWN SWEET

He was an athlete who enjoyed skiing and running the Boston Marathon.

Shawn Sweet, 28, of Pembroke, Mass., attended Silver Lake High School, Massasoit Community College and Quincy Junior College.

He worked as the assistant grocery manager at a Stop & Shop in Quincy, Mass.

"Shawn lived life to the fullest," his family said in an obituary notice to be published in area newspapers Monday.

A woman who answered the telephone at Sweet�s parents� home in Pembroke said she was too distraught to talk.

"All I can say is he was a wonderful boy and we miss him," she said.

_______________________

LORI DURANTE

Lori Durante loved horses and bowling. Most of all, however, she loved her boys.

The 40-year-old West Warwick resident was a certified nurse�s aid and medical technician at a nursing home, according to her ex-husband, Tony Durante, 44, also of West Warwick.

Lori Durante was a stand-out bowler in North Kingstown leagues, often taking home trophies for her high scores.

But the lanes took a backseat to her sons, 15-year-old Anthony Michael and Matthew Paul, 13.

"She�s a devoted, loving mother," Tony Durante said. "She attended all of their games, she was their most avid supporter. Her life revolved around her boys."

Always smiling, she was active at the boys� school, St. Joseph�s, where she prepared hot lunches for the students so she could spend more time with her children.

_______________________

SCOTT GRIFFITH

After serving time in jail for a drug conviction a few years

ago, Scott Griffith turned his life around and devoted it to his 13-year-old daughter, Kacie. Griffith, a musician, had spent two decades playing guitar and writing songs for Southern California bands.

"If anything funny was going to happen to someone on stage, it was going to happen to him," said Griffith�s former band manager, James Costa. "Anybody and everybody that knew Scott knew a story that put a smile on their face when they told it."

Griffith, 41, completed drug rehabilitation, cut his hair and began taking computer classes. He eventually received his degree and landed a job at a computer security company. He is from Mission Viejo, Calif., but last summer, his company gave him a promotion and relocated him to Rhode Island.

He took the offer to give Kacie a better life, said Costa.

Griffith knew Great White�s vocalist, Jack Russell, and got five tickets to the concert. He took four co-workers. Three made it out alive, Costa said.

Griffith�s most prized possession was a custom-made white Gibson Les Paul guitar, which he joked that he wanted to be buried with. Now, Costa says, the guitar may go to his daughter.

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DANIEL JOHN FREDERICKSON

Daniel Frederickson, 37, was a career Navy sailor. He enlisted in 1983 and planned to retire later this year to his hometown area of Elma, Wash.

He was a chief machinists mate at the Groton, Conn. submarine base and lived in Coventry.

Frederickson and his former wife, Donna DeBord, had four children.

The couple divorced six years ago and Frederickson was remarried to Tracey Frederickson, who has been missing since the fire.

Relatives described him as a family man, who was outgoing and loved to have fun.

"The news of Chief Frederickson came as a shock to his shipmates at NSSF where he has served the submarines on the waterfront for more than two and a half years," the Navy said in a statement. "The thoughts and prayers of personnel are with Chief Frederickson and his family at this very difficult time."

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WILLIAM W. CARTWRIGHT

William W. Cartwright had a "nutty" personality who loved to croon �80s songs at karaoke night at Tommy�s Lounge in Pawtucket.

"Disco sucks. He�d be proud to say that," said his younger sister, Candy Herman. "He loved �80s rock, to this day."

Cartwright, 42, went to see Great White with a friend, Herman said. His live-in girlfriend, Kristen Aris, decided not to go.

Cartwright had been a warehouse manager at Providence Yarn Company in Pawtucket the past three years.

To relax, Cartwright loved to go fishing with his uncle for scup and flatfish in Plymouth, Mass., or in Narragansett Bay. Sometimes, he�d just drop off his catch.

Herman said her brother was a free spirit of sorts who had a joke for anything.

"Some people are serious people," Herman said. "Others are goofy, like William."

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THOMAS A. BARNETT

Marjorie Bagshaw will remember nephew Tommy�s hugs.

"A week before he died, he came in the house and gave me a big hug, when he hugged you it was like being hugged by a teddy bear," the 65-year-old Coventry woman recalled. "I never saw him without a smile on his face."

Barnett, 38, was born in Warwick and attended North Kingstown and Coventry high schools. Fun-loving and always ready with a joke, the West Greenwich resident was also an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and deer hunting.

He worked as a self-employed construction worker for 20 years.

Barnett went to The Station the night of the fire with his

girlfriend, Jessica Studley, and his best friend since kindergarten, Jason Morton.

Bagshaw said Studley went to the parking lot that night to get cigarettes from a car.

"When she turned around the building was already gone," Bagshaw said.

Morton was also killed.

"He died with his lifelong friend," Bagshaw said. "It was

like a double whammy for us."

_______________________

NICHOLAS O�NEILL

It would be shortchanging Nicholas O�Neill to say he was simply a musician, a gifted guitar player in a band who wrote many songs and produced a compact disc. Though only 18 years old, O�Neill had a "presence" about him, family and friends said, and could make people laugh and forget their troubles.

O�Neill, of Pawtucket, was part of a theater group that performed at the famed Stadium in Woonsocket. He mostly did comic relief, said 17-year-old Nick Laroche, including one memorable play in which he impersonated Elvis Presley in "Bye, Bye Birdie."

"He had the moves down pat," Laroche recalled. "He had the comedy ... and he had a presence."

O�Neill�s father, David Kane, said his son would have been shocked by the some 1,000 people who paid tribute to the teenager at a recent memorial service.

"When I saw the people here, the huge crowd, I heard Nicky

whispering to me, �We should charge a cover,""

O�Neill befriended a young boy recently whose sister had died, his father said. He wrote a song for the boy, Kane said, and called it, "Crack a Smile."

O�Neill was close to his family, especially the two brothers with whom he played. One brother, Chris, marveled at how much O�Neill had accomplished in "his short, glorious life."

"Nicky was too good for this world," Chris O�Neill wrote in a church program.

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THOMAS MEDEIROS

Thomas Medeiros was an employer�s dream: A conscientious worker who took pride in his labors, rarely missed a day and infused others with his personality.

Joe Sosnosky should know. The executive vice president at Bradford Soap Works in West Warwick hired Medeiros about 20 years ago. He watched as Sosnosky moved up through the ranks, landing in a position overseeing the packaging of soap in the plant�s chemical production department.

Medeiros, 40, of Coventry, was part of an extended family who worked at the plant - a network that included brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, and in-laws.

"Tom was just an excellent kid who came to work every day, did the job to the best of his abilities and prided himself on quality," Sosnosky said.

Medeiros graduated from West Warwick High School as a star runner known statewide. He broke many state track records, and was named the Most Outstanding Athlete of West Warwick in his senior year.

House Speaker William Murphy attended high school with Medeiros. He said Medeiros was known for being an outstanding athlete. The two saw each other from time to time around town, Murphy said.

Medeiros kept fit, Sosnosky said.

"You could tell by just looking at him," Sosnosky said of

Medeiros� conditioning. "He prided himself on his appearance and the fact he was in good condition."

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CHARLINE ELAINE GINGRAS-FICK

Charline Elaine Gingras-Fick "was a girl from the 80�s," said cousin Leo Leclerc. "She loved music, dancing and going to concerts,"

Gingras-Fick, who grew up in Pawtucket but lived in Central Falls, also loved animals and worked as a dog groomer. She had a ready laugh and was "very happy-go-lucky," Leclerc said. "You�ll never find anyone more boisterous or jovial."

Divorced eight months ago, the 35-year-old Gingras-Fick was focused on "getting her act together," Leclerc said.