Samadikun Hartono, the chairman of Modern Group, an Indonesian conglomerate involved in manufacturing, banking and financial services, wanted his three sons and two daughters to get the best possible education. For him, that meant sending them to the United States. "We like the American way of thinking," Mr. Hartono said by telephone from Jakarta. "You train people with more independence and also wider thinking."
He was pleased when his youngest son, Eric, showed interest in becoming a businessman. "When he was 14 or 15 he already had a different attitude," Mr. Hartono said. "He already was thinking about business."
Mr. Hartono sent Eric to Portland, Ore., where he studied at Temple Christian High School, regularly attended the City Bible Church and lived with Lily and Martin Sudarma, who immigrated from Indonesia in 1971, and their son, Jay.
Friends said that he blended in with everyone. "He never talked about his wealth or what his parents do," said a friend from the school, Dani Setiawan.
After graduating from high school, Eric Hartono moved to Boston, where he attended Newbury College, and then to Los Angeles, where at 20 he was hoping to attend the University of Southern California. In September he went to Boston to visit his girlfriend, Luvena Katherine Kusuma. His return trip was on United Airlines Flight 175.
"After he graduated," his father said, "I wanted him to come back and continue my business."