• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

released.

Kari was inconsolable. She blamed herself for his death.

Martha was asked if she wanted an autopsy. She rang Jim Sullivan, a lawyer who was an

old friend of Chris's, and then Bill Pettit, Chris's older brother, and broke the news to

them. She suggested to both men that if there was an autopsy, Pettit's blood alcohol levels

would make for ugly headlines. They all agreed there was no need.

That Sunday evening Bob Genirs returned home and found 18 messages on his voice

mail. He hit "Play," and heard Martha telling him Chris had died. She'd planned a funeral

in Brooklyn on Monday. Four calls later there was a message from Mary Anne Pettit,

saying a funeral had been planned for Tuesday in St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, in

Huntington.

Mary Anne Pettit was livid when she heard of Dillman's plans. "It was like she kept his

body hostage," she said. "Was there no end to her scheming?" (Dillman did not want to

comment on anything to do with Chris Pettit.)

Two "wives," two funerals, but Lehman executives did not need to ask which funeral to

go to. They all showed up for the Mass in Huntington on Tuesday, although there were

several awkward moments.

The first was during the funeral procession--or rather, the two funeral processions. There

were the Pettits, led by Mary Anne, and then there was Martha Dillman, with John and

Sophie. Sitting at the front of the congregation at St. Patrick's were Dick Fuld and Joe

Gregory.

Steve Carlson recalled seeing Tucker at the funeral. The two men had not spoken since

that tearful scene in Pettit's office. It would be years before Tucker could forgive himself

for not reconciling with his friend. "He had his arm around Mary Anne," Carlson said.

"And we all knew that Tommy was part of the kerfuffle that took out Chris. We knew

that he didn't feel good about this. He had this tortured look on his face."

The Pettit children were appalled when Martha 's eldest child, John Dillman, took his

position as one of the pallbearers. Chris Pettit Jr. turned to Mary Anne and said, "There's

no way he's touching my father's casket." But no one stopped him. He was, after all, a

child.

Tommy Tucker gave the eulogy as his friend was laid to rest beside his brother Rusty in

Farmingdale, Long Island. As the coffin was lowered into the ground he said:

When I look out at all of you, and think of all the lives that Chris impacted, the word that

I focus on is love.

I had a conversation recently that touched upon the subject of love. I learned that fear is

the main obstacle in developing a loving persona. If you get through the fear, you can

achieve wonderful things. Chris was the guy who removed the fear from all of us. . . .

We were all better when he was around, because he took away the fear and gave us

confidence. . . . Chris has made it easier for all of us to realize our full potential. He set

the tone. He moved the obstacles. He made it fun. And he did it for all of you because he

loved all of you.

Many of the Lehman people then went back to the city in their separate limos, back to

their separate intrigues. Some left Pettit in the ground that day; some never forgot him.

Tucker hasn't. He finished his eulogy that day with these words:

Chris was my best friend. I loved him and he loved me. He always made me better than I

was. I am sure his spirit will be with me for the rest of my life.

Which was, in some morbid fashion, true. Tucker was so haunted by Chris Pettit that six

years after the funeral he visited a medium, James Fargiano, who is so heavily booked

that he takes reservations a year in advance. Tucker says Fargiano was worth the wait.

The medium, he says, summoned up Chris's spirit--after he had brought in the spirits of

Tucker's parents to convince the skeptical Tucker this was no hoax--and the two old

friends, or rather a spirit and a man, finally made their peace.

Tucker stayed close with Mary Anne. They were both shocked