BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
He was one heck of a lot more than the King of the Cowboys. He was a teacher. A role model. An inspiration. A friend to the ailing. A portrait of what a really good marriage looks like.
Roy Rogers. After his death July 6, the Enquirer asked broomstick cowpokes to send us their faded photos showing cowboy gladrags, their tales about personal encounters of the cowboy kind and stories about their most treasured memorabilia.
And they did. Tempo got 134 responses, everything from a single-paragraph to 10- and 12-page letters.
And photos. Dozens of cowboys included photos of themselves -- usually taken Christmas morning -- duded up in a Roy-like chaps and hats. Others included autographed pictures of Roy and Dale, usually sent in response to a fan letter.
But mostly, there were memories, stories about what Roy Rogers meant to people growing up in the '40s and '50s.
Many, many readers remember Roy the role model:
Jim Slay, Okeana: "Roy is a legitimate role model and a tribute to his Christian belief."
Vicki Schwartz, Cincinnati: "Roy Rogers reminded me of my father -- not only did they have similar physical features, but also the all-American qualities of honesty, loyalty and doing the right thing."
Vera McHale, Cincinnati: "When young people today ask me what was so great about the picture of the man on the post card I saved, I tell them, "He loved his wife and it showed.' Dale and Roy taught people how to argue well. They had disputes on the show as part of the plot, but they showed us that disagreements can be handled well."
Mike Newton, Hamilton: "He didn't preach morality. He lived it. You just knew that you had picked the right man to be your hero."
Kenneth Holtkamp, College Hill: "It was the code of the West. The good guys always won. Roy Rogers was someone very special. . . . How innocent and naive those days remembered. This week they all came rushing back and I cried real tears. Perhaps they were not so much for the passing of a legend as they were for the fading of a memory."
Memory. It's a key word in almost every letter:
Toby Casey, Mount Washington, remembers a 1996 letter he sent Dale Evans, asking her and Roy to record a song he wrote. He also asked her, "Did it ever bother you having Trigger get top billing over you in the movies?" He got a photo by return mail.
Peggy Hearl, Montgomery, remembers crying in the '50s when her brother got the Roy Rogers robe she so desperately wanted. "When my brother outgrew the robe, I begged to get it as a hand-me-down." She did, and later, it went to college with her. Now, with the lint rubbed off, "at this moment, hanging next to my tissue paper stuffed wedding dress, is my Roy Rogers chenille robe."
Fredericka and Samuel Cohen, Loveland, remember the inspiration Roy gave their daughter Anne. As she was entering her terrible twos, she announced, "I be Roy Rogers." When her grandfather told her she had to be Dale Evans because she was a girl, she told him, "I be what I want to be. I be Roy Rogers."
Later, after a successful career at the Cincinnati Post, she decided, "I be a lawyer." She went to law school and is now a partner in a New York law firm.
When it came time for a law school graduation gift, her parents found a Roy Rogers 6-shooter and packed it in her carry-on as a surprise. Turns out it was a bigger surprise to the technician X-raying bags as she went through check-in.
Pam Stricker, West Chester, remembers a childhood incident at Easter services in Missouri:
"The Sunday School teacher began to relate the story of the Crucifixion -- how Jesus was spit upon, a crown of thorns placed on his head and how he was nailed to a cross to die. One little boy was aghast. He'd never heard an account like this before. With each cruelty the teacher told, his eyes got bigger and bigger. Finally, he stood up and blurted out: "I'll bet if Roy Rogers hadda been there, those sons of bitches woulda never gotten away with that."
Marilyn Eheman, Cincinnati, remembers having a baby in 1965 and how her daughter Carrie, who idolized Roy, wanted to name the baby Roy Roging.
Several readers remember Roy Rogers as a companion at their sickbed:
Christine Jette, Hyde Park, had him as a constant companion: "It was 1957 and I was bedridden with rheumatic fever . . . television became my world because of the illness and I fell in love with Roy Rogers . . . I wanted to be Dale Evans because she was married to my hero . . . He gave the gifts of laughter and joy to a sick little girl. I will remember him with love."
Susan Moses Washburn, Crescent Springs, remembers a personal hello: "When I was 10 years old, I was bedridden with rheumatic fever. I had to stay flat in bed for over two years." During that time she lunched daily with the Ruth Lyons' 50-50 Club. When Miss Lyons announced Roy would be a guest, Susan sent a letter asking for a picture. Miss Lyons wrote back saying it was impossible, but be sure to watch the show.
Susan did. At the end of the interview, Miss Lyons said, "Oh, Roy, one of my little viewers, Susan Moses, has rheumatic fever and is a great fan of yours. Won't you say hello to her?"
"I wished that time would stand still when Roy looked through the TV to me and said that his mother had suffered with rheumatic fever as a child too, and that she had grown up and lived a healthy, normal life. He told me he knew I'd be healthy again, too . . . I am blessed by that memory."
Jack McGriff, Greenhills, met Roy Rogers after a Crosley Field appearance. Mr. McGriff had broken his arm a week earlier but got to the show anyway. "I'll never forget. He took a pen and signed my cast . . . I never got to keep that dirty, old, smelly cast with my hero's signature on it. I do have some pictures . . . but I would still love to have that old cast."
One thing people keep with their memories is memorabilia:
Barry Shelley, Hamilton, has a family room decorated in Roy memorabilia.
Ken Hudson, Anderson, still has the 6-shooter he got for Christmas in 1959.
Sandra Coffey, Cincinnati, still has her red Roy Rogers lunchbox. Janet Snyder, Fort Wright, still has her bike, a Dale Evans Special she got in 1957. "The paint is chipped, the fenders dented and the tassels are missing from the handlebars, but the sturdy frame, balloon tires and one speed action still provide transportation and exercise today. The bike isn't the only thing that has lasted. Decent moral values were taught on the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show. Both have served me well for 41 years."
Glenn Callaway, Price Hill, not only considers Roy a member of the family, but also has a roomful of memorabilia. "We have one room of our house filled with cowboy collectibles of Roy, Hoppy and Gene, but mostly Roy Rogers. I have toys, games, movie posters, a cookie jar, limited edition prints, photos, guns, comic books, magazines, a guitar, awatch and an autographed copy of his Tribute album."
Judy Amos, Batesville, has an autographed picture of Roy taken when he was in the first grade. "I sent this picture to Apple Valley in 1982 to be autographed. I will always cherish this treasure." Not all Roy fans were lifelong. Thomas Bredestege, North Bend, became a convert when he was serving in Vietnam and Roy and Dale came to visit and proved nothing could stop them when they trudged through knee-high mud to meet a group of soldiers who couldn't make the show. Mike McCabe, Bridgetown, became a convert when he was standing guard one Thanksgiving at George Air Force Base, near Victorville, Calif. Dale Evans pulled up in her green Chrysler and asked if he had had Thanksgiving dinner yet. When he said no, she went tooling onto the base and found someone to relieve him long enough for dinner.
But most fans caught on long before adulthood. For most, Roy Rogers was a pillar of childhood.
Ruth Kelly, Loveland, sums it up: "I think of those sweet, innocent days of childhood back then . . . I will always appreciate those days and especially the fact that I was allowed to be a child."
Julia Hayes, Morrow, echoes the sentiments: "A little piece of my childhood died with him."
As did a lot of childhoods.
