Robert Aloysius Roe (February 28, 1924 – July 15, 2014) was an American Democratic Party politician who represented

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from November 4, 1969 to January 3, 1993.

Early life and education

Roe was born in

Lyndhurst, New Jersey Lyndhurst is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 20,554, reflecting an increase of 1,171 (+6.0%) from the 19,383 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn ...

on February 28, 1924, and raised in

Wayne, New Jersey Wayne is a township in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. Home to William Paterson University and located less than from Midtown Manhattan, the township is a bedroom suburb of New York City and regional commercial hub of North Jersey. ...

. He graduated from

Pompton Lakes High School Pompton Lakes High School (PLHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school in the borough of Pompton Lakes in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Pompton Lakes School District. The sch ...

and attended college at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering ...

in Corvallis and

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

in Pullman.

Early career

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Roe served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. Roe served as a committeeman of Wayne from 1955 to 1956 and became the Mayor of Wayne Township in 1956, serving in that capacity until 1961. He also served on the Passaic County

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

from 1959 to 1963, and as Freeholder Director in 1962 and 1963.Fried, Joseph P
"Robert Roe, New Jersey Congressman Called ‘Mr. Jobs,’ Dies at 90"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', July 15, 2014. Accessed July 16, 2014. "Robert A. Roe, who as a congressman from New Jersey for 23 years played a key role in financing projects to expand the nation’s highway and mass transit systems and to combat water and ground pollution, died on Tuesday at his home in Green Pond, N.J." In 1963, he was appointed as the Commissioner of the New Jersey Conservation and Economic Development Department and served until his 1969 resignation. In 1969, Charles S. Joelson resigned from Congress.

Tenure in Congress

On November 4, Roe was elected as

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the U.S. House of Representatives in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. Roe had a mostly liberal voting record, but he was anti-abortion. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in 1977 and 1981. In both races, Roe came in 2nd place for the nomination.

Committees

Roe served as Chairman of the

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

(1987–1991) and the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, 1991–93. Roe retired after the 1992 election and later worked as a consultant.

Later life

The former lawmaker was convicted of driving drunk when he crashed into a minivan in Rockaway Township, New Jersey in 1993, seriously injuring a woman and her 15-year-old daughter. In January 2008 a bill was passed to name Route 23 after the former Congressman.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a non-profit organization in the United States, Canada and Brazil that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and strive for stricter impaired drivi ...

protested the plan to name the highway after a man who seriously injured two people while driving drunk. A spokesman stated that Governor

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006 and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran fo ...

did not know about the accident when he signed the bill and that a second bill would have to be passed by the New Jersey Legislature to overturn the naming. Roe himself then requested that lawmakers repeal the legislation.Jennings, Rob
"MADD: Put brakes on plan to name road after ex-lawmaker who drove drunk - Former Rep. Robert A. Roe had crashed, seriously hurt two"
'' Daily Record'', February 12, 2008; accessed February 12, 2008.

Death

Roe died of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

at his home in the Green Pond section of Rockaway Township, New Jersey at the age of 90 on July 15, 2014.Jackson, Herb
"Former Rep. Robert Roe, longtime congressman from Passaic County, dies at age 90"
'' The Record)'', July 15, 2014; accessed July 16, 2014. "Roe died at home in Rockaway Township of congestive heart failure, according to his godson, Assemblyman Scott Rumana, R Wayne."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roe, Robert A. 1924 births 2014 deaths County commissioners in New Jersey Mayors of places in New Jersey Military personnel from New Jersey Oregon State University alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey People from Lyndhurst, New Jersey People from Rockaway Township, New Jersey People from Wayne, New Jersey Pompton Lakes High School alumni Washington State University alumni 20th-century American politicians