Louis K. Roth was a businessman and civic leader from

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. He was born in 1896 and completed his education at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. His involvement with

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

began in 1924 as a distributor of radios. He joined Radio Corporation, Victor Division in 1935 as production manager of their electronic division. In 1944, he and two partners set up Radio and Appliance Distributors in Hartford, Connecticut (USA), which eventually became one of the largest radio wholesalers in the state. Roth was involved in many civic and community organizations. In addition to being a trustee of th
Connecticut Opera Association
Mr. Roth was a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

of the Julius Hart Musical Foundation at the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as ...

. He also served on various university committees and served on the Board of Regents of the University of Hartford from 1961 to 1967. A residence hall at the University of Hartford is named for Roth. ''The Hartford Times'', in a May 1967 editorial, said:

"In the brief span of 23 years Louis K. Roth made an indelible mark on the civic, cultural and business life of this community. He was a man of diverse interests, unbounded energy and willingness to give uncounted hours to non-business activities in which he had a special interest. "The list of the social and civic agencies with which he was identified in lengthy. They range from those formed to help needy persons to societies of a musical or other artistic or cultural nature. "Mr. Roth took his community responsibilities seriously. He was generous with his money, time and counsel whenever the call came for assistance. Hartford will recall Louis Roth with the warmest recollection as a civic-minded citizen of the highest quality."

Roth died on May 3, 1967, at the age of 71.
Beth Israel synagogue, Hartford county records.

Legacy to public radio

WWUH, the Public Alternative Radio station at the University of Hartford is dedicated as "The Louis K. Roth Memorial Station". The History page of the station's website describes the reason:

"Prior to 1968, Louis K. Roth, a generous Regent of the University, had told the President of the University of Hartford that he would finance the radio station. Mr. Roth passed away before we got things rolling, but his family still came to us with a check for $40,000. While serious consideration was given to changing the station's call letters to WLKR, we instead renamed the radio station the Lewis K. Roth Memorial radio station, and by the time I graduated in 1970, we'd built a complete stereo radio station and still had $14,000 of Mr. Roth's grant left."WWUH: History
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External links

* http://wwuh.org

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Louis K. Businesspeople from Hartford, Connecticut Columbia University alumni New York University alumni University of Hartford people