A memorial service honoring the life of sophomore Marcus Roh will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 24, from 5-6 p.m. in Gordon Parks Arts Hall, according to a message sent to the Lab community by Interim Director Ethan Bueno de Mesquita on Feb. 2. Marcus died Dec. 23, 2025, at age 16.

“Marcus was a caring friend, a brilliant student, and a loving son and brother,” Dr. Bueno de Mesquita said in the email. “A Lab student since Nursery 3, he was a beloved member of our community.”

The service is intended to provide an opportunity for members of the community to come together to “celebrate Marcus’s life, share memories, and support one another.” Additional details about the service were not released.

English teacher Rachel Nielsen, who taught Marcus’s ninth grade English class, described him as a central presence that, in a significant way, shaped the classroom atmosphere.

“When I think about that class, I just think about laughing,” Ms. Nielsen said, “because there was something that was really fun about the personalities in that room. Marcus was just so essentially a part of that. I picture him with this kind of impish grin. It just always sort of felt like he had an inside joke.”

Ms. Nielsen, smiling, described a piece that Marcus wrote for her class about his independent reading project, which he chose based on a recommendation from librarian Susan Augustine. 

“I was rereading the letter he wrote after his independent reading,” she said. “He’d read ‘A Separate Peace,’ as Ms. Augustine had recommended it. He was so grateful that she had recommended this book that he really loved, and he was really honing in on this friendship between these two characters. I remember thinking that that’s not something that you fake.” 

The memorial service on Feb. 24 is open to all members of the Lab community.