A Collingwood, Ont., woman whose husband died on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11 attacks has become one of Canada’s most recognized 9/11 widows.
Twenty-five years later, Maureen Basnicki can still recount the day her husband died as if it happened yesterday.
“I watched with horror the second plane go into the tower, knowing Ken was there,” said Maureen.
Ken was 48 years old when he died in the terrorist attacks.
He and Maureen had been married for 20 years, with two children, Brennan and Erica. Since that day, Maureen has become a fierce advocate, founding the Canadian Coalition Against Terror in 2004.
“I know people are trying to be gentle when they say, ‘I’m sorry for your loss, but I didn’t lose him; he was taken away. He was murdered along with almost 3,000 innocent civilians,’” said Maureen.
She explained that some of Ken’s remains are buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Collingwood, while others, identified later, are at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
A final phone call: ‘I’m on the 106th floor’
Ken was inside the North Tower that morning when an unexpected phone call to his mother delivered the unimaginable. It was a final conversation few families ever had.
“Ken chose to call his mother, and she was awoken by his call, and he said, ‘Mom, something horrible has happened,’” Maureen recalled.
- 9/11 STORIES: Ground Zero: How first responders and their canines helped save lives and find those lost
“I’m on the 106th floor of the World Trade Centre; the room is full of smoke, the route is blocked, and I don’t know how I’m going to get out; and then the line went dead—that’s how I know exactly where he was,” she added.
Ken’s family continues to grapple with the trauma of imagining what he endured in his final moments.
“The room must’ve been so horrific with the heat and the fire that people actually chose to jump,” said Maureen.
“They referred to it as the jumper floor. I don’t know if Ken jumped or not; we’ll never know. The man I know wouldn’t have jumped,” she explained.
Advocating for Sept. 11 to be recognized
Of the 2,977 people killed in the attacks that day, Ken was one of 24 Canadians who lost their lives.
But from the deep darkness of that day, Maureen rises from the ashes of the Towers and her husband’s death, creating the Canadian Day of Service Foundation in 2013 after successfully advocating for 9/11 to be recognized as a National Day of Service in Canada.
“I don’t want people to forget about the hate and the horror, the destruction and the evil on that day, but I’m focused on always remembering the goodness of mankind and the humanity, and that was shown greatly with the reaction from Canada,” shared Maureen.
Remembering 9/11 for more than the unimaginable attacks
Then, in 2022, Ontario officially recognized Sept. 11 as Service Day.
“Show the global community, we answered the call, and we continued to mark that day; it changed our world—it didn’t just change my world,” reassured Maureen.
“Let us celebrate our values that were attacked that day and do something good,” she added.
Maureen left us with the words, “Pay it forward—a small act of kindness, a big thank you to our men and women in service. That’s how I want the day referred to—not 9/11, Service Day.”
