Will's great-grandson makes
first visit to Claremore

CLAREMORE (OK) — He is 23.       In Oklahoma for the first time.       He realizes — for the first time the impact his great-grandfather had on the world.       William Randolph Rogers of Tucson, grandson of Will Rogers Jr. and great-grandson of Will Rogers, came to Claremore for a family gathering that marked the 125th birthday of Will Rogers on an Oologah, Indian Territory, ranch.       He joined his family — his father’s first cousins and other cousins by the dozens — as they watched trick roping at the ranch home, a state park and museum. He heard accolades heaped on his great-grandfather and met cousins at Will Rogers Memorial Museum ceremonies.       He made the sober march with his second cousins — grandchildren of his father’s Uncle Jim, to the tomb on the museum grounds — housing the remains of great-grandparents, uncles and aunts.       But, it was in the Children’s Museum in the basement of the Claremore memorial, that he sensed something special in his family background.       “Seeing the kids in the basement, playing on the stage,” he said, his voice trailing. “Children put on costumes — cowboy and vaudeville — and do their own play-acting.       “I saw the Follies (“Will Rogers Follies,” a Tony winning Broadway play) at Centennial Hall is Tucson. I started to realize a part of my heritage from books … Saw the ‘Roping Fool’ I don’t know how many times .. I have really started to get a wake-up call about who Will Rogers really is ,,, I never really understood the significance.”       Walking through the Claremore museum, he spotted an exhibit with a straw hat worn by his great-grandfather in many photographs. It was a favorite of Will’s wife Betty and used in a famous portrait by Frank Szacz .       “I played with that hat when I was a kid. My grandfather had it and after his death it was in things Uncle Carlos (his father’s younger brother) stored in our garage.”       Born Sept. 23, 1981, William is the son of Clem, a Navajo Indian, who was the son of Will Rogers Jr. and Collier Rogers. His mother Rosemary, is Yucci and Hispanic.       He has fond memories of “Ta Ta (for grandfather in Spanish) Bill” and going to their home in Tubec.       “He had four-wheelers for Carlos, Xavier (Carlos’ son) and I. I also played golf at Tubec.”       Since his grandfather’s death in 1993, he has heard nothing from Carlos’ family (Carlos died June 29, 1999), and has been pretty far removed from the fame of his paternal grandfather’s family. In fact he has had very little contact with the family except for Randy Eubanks, who lived several years with Will Jr. and Collier and was raised as their “older” son and Clem’s “brother.”       Williams’ hero and role model, Clem, spent 20 years with the Tucson police department as a homicide detective and then went to Sells, Ariz., where he was a lieutenant and acting police chief.       Clem and Rosemary divorced, but remained “good friends” and spent time together with their son. “He stayed a big part in our lives,” said William Randolph, named for his grandfather and Randy Eubanks.       On William’s birthday, Sept. 23, 2002, he and his mother packed up lunch and took it to share with Clem. When there was no answer to their knock on the door, they found him dead from an apparent heart attack.       It was at the urging and help of his cousins, Kem and Charles Rogers, sons of Jim Rogers, that William came to Claremore for the family reunion.       He just finished Pima Community College with certification as a personal trainer and works at LA Fitness. “Coming depended on if I could get off work. It was a new job.”       William has a plan. He wants to be a police officer like his father.       Personal trainer certification is all part of his long range plan.       “As soon as I am 25, I going to do exactly what my Dad did. Go to police academy.”