Longtime Concord Labor Activist Memorialized With Granite Bench

CONCORD, NH — A longtime New Hampshire labor activist was honored with a granite bench outside of the SEA/SEUI Local 1984 headquarters on North Main Street in Concord Saturday. Kenneth Roos passed away at 63 in July 2018. Saturday would have been his 65th birthday and friends and family celebrated the day by dedicating the bench, engraved with the words, "Yes We Ken," as a nod to his relentless energy, support of social justice causes, and can-do attitude.

Rich Gulla, the president of the union, which represents thousands of state employees, said he was grateful to Roos' family for installing the bench to honor his labor brother, who served as the first vice president of the org.

Roos, who was born and raised in Massachusetts, was a state employee for nearly three decades, working at the Department of Health and Human Services, and was active in many progressive political causes. He was a fixture at rallies, protests, and actions, both in Concord and around the state. Roos also served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention for Bernie Sanders in 2016, and was active with the Democrat's city committee. Roos regularly donated blood and volunteered for the American Red Cross, participating in numerous disaster relief efforts.

Jodi Roos, holding back tears, told those in attendance – including relatives, union members, and politicos like Senate President Donna Soucy, state Sen. Dan Feltes, House Speaker Steve Shurtleff, and Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky – that they were all his "favorite people" to be with.

"And he would love knowing that you were all here," she added. "He loved you all. He really did."

Shurtleff read a proclamation from the House of Representatives while others shared jokes and stories about their time with Roos. His daughter, Alexa Roos, noted that he would get upset when people would call him a hero but, like a lot of fathers, to her and her brother, he was a hero.

"I've always felt that way about my dad," she said, "Every time, he would get so embarrassed and be like, 'I'm not a hero,' and would get angry. In his mind, he wasn't; he was just a person. (But) he's done a lot of stuff that was pretty heroic."

A woman in the audience concurred, "He was a hero."

"Yeah," Alexa Roos said, smiling.

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