Nearly every room in the Kelly family's home in Oceanside, N.Y., has some sort of feminine touch or floral print, which is not surprising, considering the women outnumbered the men five to one.

But not the family room.

That was the space known as Kells's domain, where James J. Kelly, who would have celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday, was king.

He hung photographs of his college fraternity brothers and the "Cantor Boys," his buddies at Cantor Fitzgerald, where he worked on the mortgage desk. He furnished it with plum-colored couches and a 55-inch television with multiple remote controls.

"It's just very Daddyish," said Joanne, Mr. Kelly's wife and high school sweetheart.

And when it came to the kitchen, Mr. Kelly had his own specialties. He was renowned for his popcorn and M &#038; M mixtures.

He made Mets fans of his four young daughters -- "the squad," he called them -- by serving waffles and milkshakes for Sunday breakfast after Saturday victories.

Now, the girls take turns sitting in his spot at the kitchen table, and Mrs. Kelly dreads the times of day that she used to cherish, like 6:30 p.m., when Kells would return to his domain.

"I still think he's going to walk up the driveway swinging his keys," she said. "He would walk through the door and everything would change."