Ronald Svec, a former city firefighter who was diagnosed with a 9/11-related cancer six months after he retired, has died, officials and relatives said Saturday.
The 63-year-old FDNY vet died Friday at the Jersey Shore University Medical Center after a more than 9-year battle with lung and spine cancer, said his wife of 34 years, Sharon Svec.
“He was wonderful,” she added. “The best guy in the world.”
Born in Manhattan, Svec joined the FDNY in 1989.
A member of Ladder Company 82, he spent weeks toiling at Ground Zero following the 9/11 attacks.
Svec, an outdoorsman who loved to fish and garden, retired from the department in April 2009. He was diagnosed with spine cancer that November.