Family Commemorates Life of Barbara Keating
Barbara Keating, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11, passed away during the 9/11 attacks when the aircraft hit the World Trade Center. Her remains were identified last year, leading her family to gather privately in Framingham, Mass., to lay her to rest on the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Keating was en route to California after visiting her family when the tragedy occurred.
Sons Reflection and Memorial
Her son, Paul Keating, shared with NPR his feelings about the event. “We carved the headstone 25 years ago, but she wasn’t there, and now she will be,” he explained. On the day of the attacks in 2001, he was traveling in New Jersey and witnessed the destruction of the twin towers. “Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched it happen,” he recalls. “At some point, I got a call and found out that that was my mother’s plane.”
Keating’s Legacy
Barbara Keating, aged 72 at the time, left behind five children and 12 grandchildren. She had retired from leading a chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters near Boston. Her remains will now rest beside her husband’s grave.
Ongoing Recovery Efforts
Despite the passage of time, New York officials report that 40% of the 2,753 who died in the city on 9/11 still have not been recovered or identified. Teams persist in searching through debris from the World Trade Center site. Keating praised the extensive efforts involved: “It just means a lot to comb over miles and miles of city blocks of debris for every day, 60 hours a week for 24 years.”
Continued Identification Efforts
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham described the identification effort as a “sacred commitment.” “A quarter century after the day that forever changed our world, we are keeping the promise to identify those who died at the World Trade Center in 2001 and return them to their loved ones,” he stated. With advanced forensic DNA methods, researchers identified one more woman last month, though her name remains confidential at the family’s request.