Mom's Story Part 9

Four Rogers Children
Louise, Mayola ,Bessie, Roscoe in front

My brother was named Marion Roscoe Rogers for his father.  He was born November 19, 1921.  As a child he was called “Roscoe”, but he didn’t like the name when he grew older.  In Snowflake all the kids in town had nicknames, and many of the nicknames in the Smith family came from my Uncle Lawrence, Mother’s youngest brother. Roscoe had dark brown hair that was more straight than curly and he tried to encourage his hair to lay down in a pompadour, but there were stubborn locks that refuse to conform, so mother made him a skullcap out of an old silk stocking.  That did the trick, so by plastering his wet hair down and keeping it there with the skullcap, he obtained the “in” look he was trying to achieve.  Uncle Lawrence soon dubbed him “Scully” and to this day that is the name he is known by.  He lives in Hawaii and operates a big real estate firm there, but the only name his friends know him by is “Scully”; even his stationery has the name.

Scully's Family
David, Lu holding Randy, Scully holding JeriLu, Scott (Suzie came later)

            I never remember, “fighting” with my brother and sisters.  Our home was very peaceful.  Scully loved to tease us, but he always knew how far he could go with our parents.  He was always lonesome for a brother and so adopted many of his cousins as “bosom buddies”.  He kept the trail well traveled from Uncle Jesse and Aunt Louie’s house to ours.  He, Roy, Earl, and Leland were together a great deal of the time.  Milo, another cousin, was a little younger.  His Rogers cousins also played an important part in his life.   He had a great capacity to attract friends and had hosts of them. 

Painting the fence...Scully on right

              We always had young calves in the corral.  One day my brother dared me to ride one.  He held the calf while I mounted it.  Then he gave the animal a twist of the tail and I went streaking out the corral with the calf bucking and kicking.  We headed down the lane at the barnyard, at break neck speed, out the gate, and down the street.  I can’t remember who rescued me, but I clung on for dear life.
     There are many experiences that crowd my memory about my brother; too many to relate, but one stands out clearly in my memory.  Scully was on his way down the sidewalk to play with Earl and Roy, when out of nowhere there appeared a little man with a white beard.  We knew everyone in Snowflake – but Scully had never seen his before.  He stopped Scully and said:  “Son, do you know the song, ‘I am a Mormon Boy’?”  “Yes,” said my brother.  “Sing it to me”, said the stranger.  So Scully, a little boy of six or seven sang the song for him, there on the sidewalk.  They said goodbye after the stranger patted him on the head and said:  “Always remember that.”  Scully ran on the extra half block to Aunt Louie’s house and told her about the incident.  She went out immediately, but could see no one.  No one else in town ever saw the stranger.  Scully always felt it was a visit from one of the Three Nephites left on the Earth from Book of Mormon days. 

            Another short remembrance of Scully was when President Heber J. Grant was staying in our home.  He sat Scully on his lap and said, “Son, when you get to be a man, tell your children you sat on the lap of President Heber J. Grant.”  He was only seven or eight years old. 

           I don’t want to dwell more on my brother and sisters even though they played an important part in my life, for my story will be too lengthy.  

M Roscoe Rogers in the Navy

M.R. Rogers 1940