VETERAN AND PUBLIC SERVANT REMEMBERED — A section of state Route 2 in Wellsburg has been named for the late Roy E. Givens, a Korean War veteran and state legislator for 26 years. -- Warren Scott

WELLSBURG — A section of state Route 2 in Wellsburg has been renamed in honor of a late Korean War veteran who worked, as a state legislator, to help veterans throughout the state.

State Route 2 between 12th Street and the West Virginia Division of Highways’ garage has been redubbed U.S. Army Sgt. Roy E. Givens Memorial Road in recognition of the late lawmaker’s service as a combat medic in Korea.

Givens received the Korean Service Medal and Combat Medical Badge for his service and in his 26 years in the state House of Delegates, made aiding and recognizing veterans of all ages a priority.

Following his election in 1978, his first piece of legislation helped to provide free license plates for West Virginia veterans who were prisoners of war, and he pushed for the POW-MIA flag to be flown at the State Capitol.

As chairman of the House committee on veterans affairs, he secured funds and authorization to build the state’s first veterans nursing home in Clarksburg and with state Sen. Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, worked for the establishment of the West Virginia Woman Veterans Memorial.

The monument is an 8-foot-tall bronze statue of a female soldier dressed in fatigues reminiscent of Operation Desert Storm and is at eye level with the male statues of the West Virginia Veterans Memorial at the State Capitol Complex.

Givens also supported many projects and causes at home, securing $450,000 for the new wing of the Brooke County Public Library and multiple grants for the Brooke County Pioneer Trail as well as state funds for the Brooke County 4-H camp, Brooke County Senior Center, local police and fire departments and others.

While between terms in the House, Givens volunteered as a project coordinator for the Brooke County Commission for four years.

The county commissioners then credited him with playing a key role in the transfer of buildings and property donated by the Windsor Coal Co. and now used for the county’s new animal shelter, emergency management agency and solid waste authority recycling program.

He also secured grants to replace the courthouse’s roof and boilers.

During his time in the state legislature, he received various honors, including the Distinguished West Virginian award, presented by the governor in 2013; Legislator of the Year Award, Citizen of the Year, Wellsburg Elks Lodge James R. Lee Humanitarian Award, Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission Public Service Award, West Virginia Veterans Affairs Veterans Council Award, Legislators Award from West Virginia Advocates for the Developmentally Disabled, Brooke County Adult Literacy Volunteer of the Year, and Meritorious Award from the Employers Support of the Guard and Reserve West Virginia Committee.

Givens died in 2019 at the age of 89.

State Del. Phil Diserio, D-Follansbee, led state legislators in adopting a resolution naming the highway in Givens’ honor.

Brooke County Commissioner Tim Ennis, who served with Givens for 14 years in the House of Delegates, said “I think it is wonderful that this honor has been granted to Roy Givens. He was an outstanding public servant who always put others’ interest before his own.”

Givens’ children, Jeff Givens and Susan Melican, said their father would be thrilled to be honored in such a way in the city he dearly loved and served.