Mark J. Roy, age 72, passed away on 01/10/2025. Mark was born January 22, 1952 to the late Normon W. Roy and Gloria (Waters) Roy of Cromwell, Connecticut. He was married to the love of his life, Cheryl A. (Barthelemy) Roy for 50 years.
Mark grew up in Cromwell and attended local schools, graduating from Cromwell High School in 1970. At CHS, he was on the soccer and track and field teams, a member of the choir and the band (where he played the cymbals); was named to the National Honor Society, and was editor-in-chief of the 1970 edition of Magna Panthera, the CHS yearbook. He attended the University of Connecticut from 1970 to 1974, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science. As a college sophomore, he became news director of UConn’s WHUS student run radio station, which launched his career in radio. He was news director of WILI AM in Willimantic from 1974 to 1981, and also worked part time at WPOP in 1978 and WTIC from 1983 to 1986.
From 1981 until his retirement in 2009, he worked in the communications office of UConn, starting out as a writer and as a producer of radio and television projects for the Office of Public Information. He was webmaster for the University’s main website from 1994 until his retirement in 2009, even as he continued working on audio, video, and writing projects. He was a writer for the University’s in-house newspaper, The Advance, including a series about the history of the University. His book, “University of Connecticut”, a photographic history of UConn, was published by Arcadia Publishing in 2001 and has gone through many additional printings. From the mid-1990s until 2009, Mark delivered the welcome and introductory remarks at UConn’s annual undergraduate commencement ceremonies in Gampel Pavilion.
Mark loved his years in radio news and from time to time did stints at WHUS and WILI as a disc jockey, and he cherished the seven summers he worked at the waterfront at Middlesex County’s former Boy Scout summer camp, Camp Tadma. He taught swimming, lifesaving, rowing, and canoeing and worked his way through the ranks to become Waterfront Director for his last summer at Tadma in 1973. He led sing-alongs as he played guitar at the weekly awards campfires and enjoyed the friendship and fellowship of countless scouts. He earned his Eagle Scout badge in 1969, and in 1973 was bestowed with the Vigil honor in the Order of the Arrow. With friends in Cromwell’s Troop 26, he made a cross-country bus trip to and from Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico in 1966.
Mark’s interest in local history led to his appointment in 2008 as historian of the Storrs Congregational Church, where he also served as a deacon, church council chair, and on a number of church boards and committees. In retirement he also channeled his love of history into researching his family genealogy.
Music was also a big part of Mark’s life, from his self-taught guitar playing and song-writing to singing as a bass and tenor in the Storrs Congregational Church choir. He was an unabashed Beatles fan and made an annual appearance on WILI’s Wayne Norman Show to talk about them and share their music.
Mark is survived by his wife Cheryl of Storrs; daughter Stephanie, her husband and her sons Leo (Leoric) and Vincent of Manchester; brother Robin Roy of Higganum; sister Susan Roy of Suffield; as well as many cousins, nieces and nephews.
We would like to thank Pastor Diane and the members of Storrs Congregational Church who graciously volunteered their time to visit with Mark so that Cheryl could run errands and go to appointments. We would also like to thank the nurses and aids at Hospice Care – in particular Holly & Tina. Because of them, Mark was able to enjoy his last days pain free.
A celebration of Mark’s life will be held on Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 2:00 pm at Storrs Congregational Church, 2 North Eagleville Rd, Storrs, CT 06268. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Storrs Congregational Church; Troop 26 of the Boy Scouts of America in Cromwell; or the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History at the University of Connecticut.
A few weeks after graduation, I headed to Boy Scout camp in Bozrah where I had worked each summer since 1967 (and would continue every summer through1973). In the fall of 1970 it was off to Storrs where I went to classes and studied and spent weekends at home. No extracurricular activities, no parties, just classes and studying in my major. Sophomore year brought big changes. In early October 1971 I started training at the student radio station, WHUS, which led to a career in broadcasting and communications, and in November 1971 I met Cheryl and and we were married Nov. 10, 1974, after graduation from UConn with a degree in political science. I also started work that year at WILI in Willimantic as news director and host of a daily talk show. After 7 years of full-time radio, I changed gears and started working in public relations at UConn. I continued to do some part-time work in radio, at WPOP, WTIC and WILI, but quit radio entirely after our daughter, Stephanie, was born in 1985.
My job evolved over the years at the University, from doing public relations and writing news releases to managing the University's main website. I contributed to the faculty/staff newspaper, writing about the University's history. That series of articles, begun in 1997, lead to my editing and writing a photographic history of UConn that was published in 2001. A second printing was published in 2004.
I retired from UConn in 2009 after more than 28 years on staff. My wife, Cheryl, a native of Newburyport, Massachusetts, is a computer programmer and she telecommutes for a company in Denver. Our daughter Stephanie graduated from UConn in 2006 and she is chief instructor of Villari's Martial Arts of North Windham.