Walnut Creek (KRON) Abid Gilani was trying to return to New York from his uncle’s funeral in Virginia on Amtrak – but he never made it.
The 55-year-old Wells Fargo Bank executive had split his time between Washington, New York and Walnut Creek, California, where his wife lives to be close to their college-age son and daughter. He’d commute there on weekends.
After Tuesday’s fatal Amtrak derailment, when she couldn’t reach her husband, Diane Gilani reportedly rushed to Philadelphia.
Her worst fear was confirmed.
A Wells Fargo spokeswoman said the Gilanis had requested privacy. The bank issued a statement that said only: “It is with great sadness that Wells Fargo confirms that Abid Gilani, a valued member of our commercial real estate division, has passed away. Our hearts go out to all those impacted by this tragedy.”
Abid Gilani juggled career and family life as he climbed up various corporate ladders.
He first worked for the Bank of Nova Scotia from its office in San Francisco.
The family eventually moved to Rockville, Maryland, where Gilani worked for Marriott International. They still own a home there, according to neighbors who remember them fondly as a tight-knit family.
In his last job, Gilani was a senior vice president of Wells Fargo’s hospitality finance group on the East Coast.
But he also spent time in his California home, surrounded by greenery on a quiet street in Walnut Creek.
Gilani’s mother, a resident of Toronto, had attended her brother’s Virginia funeral earlier this week, according to the New York Daily News.
She must now also bury her son.