United States Governor Directory

Vesta M. Roy

Vesta M. Roy served as Governor of New Hampshire.

  • Republican
  • New Hampshire
  • Former
Portrait of Vesta M. RoyNew Hampshire
Role Governor

Current assignment referenced in the congressional directory.

State New Hampshire

Representing constituents across the New Hampshire delegation.

Service period 1982-1983

Years of public service formally recorded.

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Biography

VESTA M. ROY was born in Detroit, Michigan. She served as a Rockingham, County, New Hampshire Commissioner, and as a member of both the New Hampshire House of Representatives (1973-75) and Senate (1978-86). As President of the Senate, she assumed the office of governor briefly in an acting capacity upon the death of then-Governor Hugh Gallen shortly before the inauguration of Governor-elect John H. Sununu. Although she was governor for only one week, she holds the status of being the first Republican female governor in U.S. history. Roy was also an advisor to the New Hampshire presidential campaign offices of Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush. She died at her home in Kenmore, New York at the age of seventy-six and is buried in Lowell, Massachusetts.

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