New Hampshire Public Radio notes the passing of long-time peace activist Ruth McKay who died over the weekend.
Most people in the state have probably never heard of McKay.
But friends and critics alike agree, the woman exemplified strength integrity and devotion to her cause: world peace.
Dan Gorenstein produced this rememberance.
Most Concord residents have probably seen Ruth McKay, but not realized it.
She was one of the old ladies that held peace signs in front of the statehouse.
The New Hampshire native was born in 1919.
Over the years, she taught school and worked in a factory.
McKay also taught Sunday School for some 20 years.
And many friends and acquaintances say, it is in religion that McKay found her passion.
T.23
:02 my name is Arnie Alpert and I've known Ruth since probably around 1980, or '81....
:40 she struck me and still strikes me as someone who is extremely serious about her religion. The fundamental message in Christianity being a message of peace. This is something she learned as a Sunday school teacher, talking about the Viet Nam war. And once she realized that herself, she never forgot it and brought it to the core of her being.
In the mid-60's McKay began counseling conscientious objectors to the Viet Nam war.
She also got involved with the Civil Rights movement.
What McKay may best be known for, at least in peace movement circles, is her seemingly ceaseless vigil outside the military contractor that is now known as BAE in Nashua.
T.29
10:18...I don't know how many Christmases she spent in jail, b/c her human rights day December 10th arrest situation at BAE...
That's fellow activist Lynn Chong.
....And she would always send us a postcard...that this is the gift to her family and children for Christmas, being in jail...you have to chew around that in your mind and think, how is this a gift? And her feeling was the world needs peace, and I am going to point out, the most important thing is peace. And peace is possible. We don't choose it. we have to choose it. and I think by choosing jail she was showing us all again, choose peace. Choose peace.
McKay told a reporter late last year that she didn't describe her presence outside BAE as a protest.
She told the reporter she preferred the word dissent, or resistance.
She thought the word 'protest' sounded too angry.
"When you think of how the money is used for killing
people, it just tramples on all kinds of civil rights, even the right to have food for your family, or the right to have a job and make something that's affirmative. And also we’re testing the right to speak up about the things that are not good.â€
But McKay's energies were spent on more than BAE.
She pushed New Hampshire to adopt Martin Luther King day.
And she took part in the huge protests to block the Seabrook Nuclear power plant from coming on line.
:56 my name is Joel Maiola, I am chief of staff to Sen. Judd Gregg, and I have known Ruth McKay probably for the last 18 years or so. She's been in our office on a variety of issues that she's felt strongly and passionate about.
Maiola more than once had to have McKay removed during sit-ins in Gregg's office.
3:56 I think Ruth's legacy is America's legacy. People have every abil/ity to agree or disagree and in open and thoughtful ways. And Ruth very much represented that part of society that took strong stands and stuck by them. That's something that everyone does appreciate.
4:52 I think there's always room for people to dissent and to exchange ideas. And b/c you don't agree doesn't mean that it was not a useful converstation, so I think she highlighted the issues she felt strongly about. And there were certainly people listening.
Every encounter always done in professional an passionate way.
That passion extended to her personal life.
According to family members, McKay and her husband tied to live below the poverty line to keep from paying federal taxes that might go to the Pentagon.
Long-time friend Macey Morse first met in 1967 at an anti-Viet Nam war meeting.
3:!0 in the past I think of momemts when she and I stood and Sanders, which is now BAE...Ruth would always like to sing a little bit. We would stand at the gateway to the shop...Ruth would sing some gentle song...
11:59 peace is flowing like a river....
And Morse remembers the last time she saw her good friend.
12:50 when I went to see her in the hospital last Monday and she was lying in the bed, and with her eyes mostly closed. We were quite a group of people there. I had ptu my hands around her neck and on her shoulder. And I felt her heart. And I said, Ruth your heart is so strong, the beat is so strong. And she said yes, that's a problem, isn't it.
McKay died over the weekend, she was nearly 85.
For NHPR News, I'm DG.
