Tyner's backyard meets the Buczynskis' front, and the couple's two younger children would often tumble over the boundary when they played. Between them, the Buczynskis had four children: an 8-year-old son in the third grade, two grown sons from Walter's previous marriage, and a 15-year-old son - in his first year of high school - from Marcie's. The school-age boys have been placed with relatives, officials said.
Friends said Walter hadn't complained of troubles at work. Still, financial worries surrounded him.
In 2006, the IRS filed a lien against him, claiming he owed more than $656,000 in back taxes. The lien is still listed as open. Two months ago, Fieldstone collapsed and filed for bankruptcy, a victim of its apparent overeagerness in making subprime loans.
As someone considered indispensable to winding down Fieldstone's affairs, Buczynski was one of only about 20 people still working there. Just last week, Fieldstone asked permission from a bankruptcy judge in Baltimore to pay Walter a $100,000 retention fee to keep him on board through February. But at age 59, he was looking at possible unemployment after that.
Walter Buczynski spent most of his life working in the mortgage industry. He graduated from Rutgers University and flew a helicopter in Vietnam, according to a 1991 article in Real Estate Weekly.
Then he settled in as an accountant at the mortgage-banking unit of Primerica Corp. in 1973. He went on to hold top positions at Chase Manhattan Mortgage and GE Capital Mortgage Services. He joined Fieldstone in September 2000.
His salary last year was $330,800, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, though he likely earned a lot more. In 2005, Walter Buczynski made more than $787,000 in salary, securities options, bonuses and perks. Unlike his fellow senior executives, he didn't contribute any of it to a 401(k) retirement account.
Walter's tax woes began in March 2001, when the IRS filed a lien of $71,924. Another was filed in August for $87,092. The largest lien, according to records, was filed in July 2006. It is not clear from public records whether any of those were resolved.
Colleagues said they weren't aware of any financial concerns.
"Walter was a great person. I really liked him a lot," Brenda L. Heigh, Fieldstone's accounts payable supervisor, said in a telephone interview yesterday.
A former colleague called her with the news of the deaths yesterday morning.
