9/11, 25th Anniversary Remembrance: #2 – See-Wong Shum
By Steve Wilson // September 10, 2026
Shum worked on the 82nd floor of the North Tower at the World Trade Center in New York City
See-Wong Shum (pictured) tragically was killed on 9/11 while working on the 82nd floor of the North Tower at the World Trade Center in New York City. (Image: legacy.com)
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – In remembrance of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, the Friday Night Locker Room’s Steve Wilson randomly selected 25 people that were killed on that tragic day. Space Coast Daily will release one story per day leading up to September 11, 2026. Today’s story is about See-Wong-Shum, who died on 9/11 while working on the 82nd floor of the North Tower at the World Trade Center in New York City. Story courtesy of legacy.com.
#2 See-Wong Shum, 44 – Since Sept. 11, Rebecca Shum has adopted a vegetarian diet and started chanting Buddhist prayers. It is these religious rituals that help Shum cope with the loss of her husband, See-Wong Shum, who announced a week before the World Trade Center attacks that he was converting to Buddhism.
He made this decision after spending endless hours in the public library exploring texts about Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. “If I’m chanting, I feel like I’m connected with him somehow,” said Shum, who was not affiliated with any religious group before the terrorist attacks. “Somehow I feel like if I do something for him in the practice of Buddhism, I think that’s all I can do for him.”
Mr. Shum, 44, was on the 82nd floor of One World Trade Center when a hijacked airliner crashed into the building. The Westfield resident managed computer systems for New York Metropolitan Transportation Council and reportedly answered phones amid the chaos of that Tuesday morning.
Rebecca Shum did not get a chance to talk to her husband one last time. However, when she returned home that day after dropping their 3-year-old daughter Chanel off at nursery school, there was a message on the answering machine. There were no voices on the message, just the sound of wailing sirens in the background. “I bet that might’ve been him,” she said.
Mr. Shum was a restless spirit who was always seeking new adventures. Raised in Hong Kong, Mr. Shum worked as a high school teacher, corrections officer and suicide hotline counselor. During his free time, he backpacked through Europe, China, Israel, Peru, Egypt and Thailand.
It was in Thailand where Mr. Shum was first exposed to Buddhism and meditated in a temple for the first time. He felt at peace there and wondered if he was a Thai monk in a previous life. But years would pass before he announced that he was Buddhist. “Maybe he knew that something would happen to him,” Shum said.
After numerous career changes, Mr. Shum finally settled on a computer-related job and started working at the transportation council nine years ago. He rarely missed a day of work — taking off only to tend to his wife or children if they were sick. These days, the couple’s 6-year-old son, Leon, is having problems sleeping and is disturbed by nightmares he has of a monster carrying a bomb. He insists he’s feeling better, but he cannot sleep unless the lights are on in his bedroom.
“I think so far he is handling it good, considering his age,” Shum said. In addition to his wife, son and daughter, Mr. Shum is survived two sisters, Christina Shum and Sandy Shum of Hong Kong, and his parents, Soo-Chu Cheng and Ching-Ho Shum of Hong Kong.
This article is sponsored by Edrman Automotive and Craig Technologies.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Steve Wilson was born in DeRidder, Louisiana and grew up in both New Orleans and Macon, Georgia. He moved to Brevard County in 1984 and retired from local government as the Community Advocate/Assistant to the City Manager with the City of Rockledge in 2018.
Among the awards and accolades Steve has received over the years are 15 + year Rockledge Little League volunteer, Brevard Public School Jefferson Award Recipient, Rockledge High School Raider Booster Award 2001, 2006, City of Rockledge Employee of the Year 2006, Rockledge Kiwanian of the Year 2006-2007, City of Rockledge Quality Public Service Award 2008, 2012, 2017, Rockledge Kiwanis Citizen of the Year 2012-2013, Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame – Sportscasting 2015, Rockledge High School Leadership and Service Award 2016, Central Florida Humanitarian Award 2017, Space Coast Inspiration Award – 2018, Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame – Lifetime Achievement – 2020, Ecofest Achievement Award – 2022, Quality Floridian Award – 2022, presented by U.S. Congressman Bill Posey, Florida House District 32 Constituent of the Week 4/20/25.
Wilson is especially proud of his chairing two fundraisers in support of pediatric cancer research through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation in honor of Merritt Island resident Julie Spurlock that raised over $25,000.00.
He has been a partner, along with Orville Susong, for the past 27 years with the Friday Night Locker Room, a broadcasting team that covers and reports on a wide variety of local events that are of significance to the residents of the Space Coast and beyond. Their mission is to promote youth sports, support first responders and law enforcement personnel, and showcase community and charitable events that are produced by our nonprofit partners in central Florida.
The Friday Night Locker Room has awarded hundreds of sports achievement plaques to Brevard County student-athletes over the years. They have also awarded more than $18,000 in academic scholarships to Brevard County high school seniors.
