The famous couple was lucky to have met each other, but also very unlucky in many events that happened thereafter. It was their immense love for children which made these following loses all the more tragic. When their daughter Debbie was being driven to school on a church bus, she was one of the eight people who died as the bus crashed into seven cars while driving along the highway. This was another one of several distinct and brutally powerful blows to the loving parents.
Private First Classes John David Rogers, also known as Sandy, was one of the couple’s adopted children. Another tragedy struck the Rogers when just 15 months after the loss of Debbie — their 18-year-old Sandy, who enlisted in the U.S. Army in late 1964 after receiving consent from his parents due to being a minor, died from choking at a military hospital while being deployed in Germany. He complained about feeling ill at the time and was taken to an army medical bed. A few hours later, he vomited and choked to death in 1965, before even reaching the age of 20.
Second Tragic Birth
Roger proposed to Dale Evans at the Chicago Stadium, and soon after, the two got married on New Year's Eve 1947, at the Flying L. Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma, where they had earlier filmed the movie, 'Home in Oklahoma'. Roger and Evans didn’t wait too long before giving birth to their first baby girl. They were thrilled when their daughter Robin Elizabeth was born. Their excitement quickly turned into fear when they realized that she was born with down syndrome, which was a much greater risk during the ‘40s, and resulted in her early death due to complications with mumps before reaching her second birthday.
The couple was devastated and mourned her death for a long time. Rogers and Evans subsequently decided to write a book about the loss of their daughter and how she changed their life, even during her short existence. The book was called “Angel Unaware: A Touching Story of Love and Loss”, and became a major influence in the way that parents deal with identifying and raising kids that have special needs.
Influencing Generations of Parents
It's been common throughout the '40s and '50s for doctors to advise parents of children with special needs to put them away in foster homes or health institutions. The book "Angel Unaware" was the catalyst for a big change in the 20th century in the way that parents raise children with special needs. The book was written from Robin's point of view in heaven, and detailed just how much the couple did to take care of their daughter.
The story of Robin Elizabeth and her parents was so compelling and inspiring that a training center for children with special needs was named after her mother, Dale Rogers. The center is located in Oklahoma and is named “The Dale Rogers Training Center”. In order to fill the void left after the tragic death of their daughter, Roy and Dale decided to adopt four more children - Mimi, Dodie, Sandy, and Debbie.
Taking Care of the Family
While dealing with the various tragedies that plagued the Rogers family, economic pressures still applied, and Roy Rogers continued to focus on his career while doing all he could to take care of his family. He acted in a variety of Western films and was extremely popular with audiences in the U.S. Unfortunately, the revenue of his work and efforts ended up in the hands of the Republic Pictures, the studio that helped put him in the spotlight. So Rogers leveraged his popularity to add a clause to his contract that allowed him to earn money from his likeness, voice, and merchandise.
With young boys adoring Roy Rogers and young girls dreaming of marrying someone like him, the popular cowboy was one of the symbols of American manliness and freedom. He had numerous action figures, collecting cards, fiction novels, theme songs and other memorabilia made of him. Rogers truly got as close as you can get to becoming a real-life action hero, that also happened to be a really good singer.
The Roy Rogers Show
In 1950, NBC green-lighted the popular American Western TV show, "The Roy Rogers Show", which ended up broadcasting for 100 episodes between 1951 and 1957. The fictional show featured Roy Rogers, his wife Dale Evans, Pat Brady as his comical sidekick, and Roy's animals, Trigger the Palomino horse and his German Shepherd, Bullet, the "Wonder Dog". The show featured traditional Western and Christian themes, including cowboys, cowgirls, horseback riding, six-shooters, and bank robbers. It also featured topics that were important to the US audience, such as gun safety and environmentalism.
"The Roy Rogers Show" received an Emmy nomination in 1955 for Best Western or Adventure Series, it finished 27 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1951 to 1952 season. Every episode ended with the show's theme song, which was written by Roy Rogers and his loving wife and co-lead, Dale Evans. Most episodes involved Roy, his sidekick, and Dale rescuing the innocent and defenseless from various evil-doers.