Christopher Newton

Like a lot of road warriors, Christopher Newton, 39, longed to be at home. As the president of Work/Life Benefits--a Cypress firm that helped executives balance their professional and personal lives--he traveled some 200,000 miles a year, mostly by air to the East Coast.

To spend more time with his wife of 15 years and their two children, ages 7 and 10, he transplanted the family and company to northern Virginia earlier this year. He was flying to Los Angeles on Tuesday to finalize company arrangements.

“That’s one of the horrible ironies of this whole thing,” said a friend and co-worker, Denise Markley. “One reason he moved to the East Coast was so that he wouldn’t have to travel so much.” Reared in Long Beach, where his parents live, Newton earned degrees from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UCLA, and for a long time sang in his church choir. He is also survived by a sister and brother.

“The world lost a really good person,” said his mother, Barbra Newton. “He was very excited about the future.”