Twenty years ago, Blue Mountains resident Ken Basnicki was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center.
Today, his wife honours his life by focusing on the acts of service, not terrorism, that took place.
Basnicki was on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. His wife, Maureen, was working as a flight attendant on a layover in Germany. Their children, Brennan and Erica, who were 16 and 21 years old at the time, were at home in Ontario.
The global event changed the lives of the Basnicki family and thousands of others, and now Maureen is working to make sure Sept. 11 is a day that brings more change, this time for the better.
“The visual of 9/11 is something that I hate,” said Maureen. “The vision of the planes going into the towers. You can imagine how I feel, as a former flight attendant, when I have to see the plane going into the towers. Or the towers being blown up, knowing my Ken was there on the 106th floor.”
Maureen is part of a group working to transform the day into one that celebrates service, gratitude, and volunteerism – all values she and her husband cherished.
“I’d like the day to rekindle the spirit of kindness, generosity, goodwill – all of that happened on Sept. 11,” she said.
Maureen and Ken met at Northwinds Beach in Craigleith. Ken was windsurfing at the time.
Both spent their summers and weekends in Collingwood and Thornbury; Maureen has been a local since age 12.
Maureen was a ski patroller at Osler Bluff Ski Club, while Ken did the same at Blue Mountain.
They married and kept a second home in Collingwood for summers. Their children played local sports, and Ken coached their soccer teams.
“There are lots of Collingwood residents who can attest to the fact that Ken was their coach,” said Maureen.
In 2000 and 2001, the Basnickis were building their dream home in what was then the Monterra subdivision. It’s part of the reason Ken took the management job for the US-based software company he worked for.
He was at the World Trade Center because his clients were financial institutions.
“I guess it’s softer to say he perished in the 9/11 attacks, but the reality is, he was one of almost 3,000 victims who were murdered on that day,” said Maureen. “I didn’t lose him. He was taken from me.”
The Basnicki family’s grief was shared with the public, a symptom of their personal connection to a global event. There were 93 countries that lost citizens that day. Ken was one of 24 Canadian victims.
“We had to share it with the public, and here we are 20 years later still sharing it with the public,” said Maureen. “There was no choice initially … we were reeling … and little did we know then how much we would be sharing with the public. I embrace it sometimes now.”
Six weeks after Ken was killed in the terrorist attacks, Maureen’s best friend died from breast cancer.
“To have lost both of them in 2001, six weeks apart, was a tremendous burden for me,” said Maureen. “I decided, not immediately, but quite some time ago to work at changing things that I could change.”
Her work started in honour of her friend Barb. Maureen helped start a local Titz and Glitz event to raise money for breast cancer patients and research.
“I didn’t have any idea of how I could create a good legacy for my husband, but I did have some idea for Barb,” said Maureen.
There were 1,000 participants at the local Titz and Glitz event, which surpassed the $25,000 fundraising goal to raise $100,000. Maureen kept this experience close to her heart, as a reminder of the power of community service, and used it as an inspiration to honour her husband.
After some time, she turned her focus to Ken's legacy, and, with support from others, was a driving force behind Canada’s National Day of Service, which is now recognized by the federal government on Sept. 11.
“It’s a day to be embraced, not avoided,” said Maureen. “You can’t have people embrace a day that’s full of hate and horror, so let’s remember the Canadian reaction to it.”
She cited the example of Gander, Nfld., where more than 6,500 passengers and crews aboard more than three dozen flights landed after being rerouted because of the attacks. The small town took the “plane people” into their homes for several days, and their kindness was immortalized in the musical, Come from Away.
Many other stories emerged after the attacks of Canadian cities and towns welcoming stranded passengers from around the world. Canadian firefighters and first responders went to New York to support the rescue and recovery workers.
In the U.S., Sept. 11 is known as Patriot Day, but it’s been left blank on the Canadian calendar. Despite federal recognition of Service Day, there’s little awareness of it.
“There’s still a big albatross, a dread to that date, Sept. 11,” she said. “It’s a day to remember, but not only to remember and think about the lives taken. It’s also a day to be inspired to show the same kind of compassion to strangers.”
Maureen and several others have been advocating for a provincial declaration for Service Day, and for more public recognition of the day from the federal government.
“Service Day should be a celebration of our values,” said Maureen. “That’s what was attacked that day.”
Her vision for the day is that everyone would mark it with an act of kindness, whether it’s a small gesture like buying a coffee for a police officer or a grocery store cashier, or something bigger like donating to a charity or participating in a fundraising event.
“Whether you call it 9/11 or Sept. 11, that day is ingrained in our memory,” said Maureen. “To be able to refer to it as Service Day from here on in will just be a tremendous legacy for my husband and for the Canadians who worked alongside me … we’ll see what we can do, and I know we can do amazing things.”
The Basnicki family, including Ken’s 94-year-old mother, get together to remember him, mourn him, and honour him every year, but not on Sept. 11.
Instead, they keep the spirit of Service Day with acts of community service that demonstrate the values they hold dear, acts of gratitude for those serving the country they love, and acts of volunteerism for the causes they care about.
