Kenneth C. Ledee, 38, of Monmouth Junction is the first South Brunswick resident confirmed dead in the World Trade Center disaster.
By: Brian Shappell
Mary Ledee received a phone call Friday that she had hoped would never come.
That’s when representatives of Marsh Inc. told her that her husband, one of thousands in the World Trade Center Sept. 11, would not be coming home.
Kenneth C. Ledee, 38, of Monmouth Junction is the first township resident to be confirmed dead as a result of the collapse of the World Trade Center that followed the terrorist attack on Sept. 11.
Unfortunately, he may be the first of several locals who could be confirmed dead in the coming weeks.
Mr. Ledee was working on the 95th floor of 1 World Trade Center when it was hit by a hijacked airplane. He was a Lotus Notes administrator in the IT Department of Marsh.
Mr. Ledee’s wife, Mary, said she received the news Friday through a phone call by a company representative. Ms. Ledee was told her husband was among 12 employees trapped on the 95th floor due to fires and smoke in the emergency stairwells.
"They got a last e-mail out at 10:02 or 10:08 (am.) to ‘tell our families we love them,’ " Ms. Ledee said
The message was sent less than one hour after Mr. Ledee paged his best friend, Riccardo Llamos, saying, "We’re OK. We’re waiting for help."
It is believed all 12 died of smoke inhalation shortly before the tower collapsed. It is also believed nothing will be recovered because of the heat and the amount of debris that fell to the area now known as ground zero.
Ms. Ledee said it has been extremely difficult to cope with the tragedy for several reasons, including the lack of something to bury and the effect the loss will have on their 4-year-old daughter, Olivia.
"I think a piece of me knew he wouldn’t be coming back," Ms. Ledee said. "The whole idea he’ll never be home hurts. It was better to have the hope. Now I have none.
"I have to be both parents now. He’s going to miss all the hugs and kisses."
Mr. Ledee was a true New Yorker. He was born and raised in Queens, where much of his family still resides, and frequented church at the First Spanish Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn.
Ms. Ledee said the couple moved to South Brunswick was because she couldn’t adjust to the busy city life and because he wanted Olivia to have the resources of a top-notch school district available to her.
Mr. Ledee wore the fact that he worked in the Twin Towers like a badge of honor.
"When we went into New York, he always pointed out to Olivia the building he worked in until she started saying, ‘Look daddy, it’s where you work,’ " Ms. Ledee said.
Because Olivia knows what the World Trade Center looks like and that it was where her father worked, Ms. Ledee has not let her daughter see any of the news coverage on the event because it "would be too devastating if she saw it."
Olivia was very close with her father, Ms. Ledee said. The two would often play games, swim and use the computer together. Mr. Ledee absolutely adored his little girl and vice versa, making the task of breaking the news to Olivia even more difficult for Ms. Ledee.
Though Olivia knows nothing of what actually happened on Sept. 11, she knows her father will not be coming home.
"She has been questioning it every day," Ms. Ledee said. "She misses him and wishes he was here. She’s really sad. She cried herself to sleep for the first time the other night. I just keep telling her he’s with God now, that he will always be with us and he will always love us."
A memorial for Mr. Ledee is planned for 3 p.m. Saturday at the First Spanish Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn.