TOMBSTONE TRIBUTES

Dale Evans
by: Dave Ferrier

   "Queen of the West" and wife and screen partner to Roy Rogers in 28 films and their TV series, Dale was born Frances Octavia Smith in Uvalde, Texas.  She first worked in show business as a singer with "big bands" and was a featured soloist at such notable hotels as The Blackstone, The Sherman, and the Chez Paree Supper Club where she would appear with jazz legends such as Fats Waller.

    She made her first film with Roy Rogers in 1944, entitled The Cowboy and the Senorita and married the "King of the Cowboys" on New Year's Eve, 1947 while filming Home in Oklahoma.

    Dale and Roy developed their own production company in 1950 and began producing their half-hour television series.  The Roy Rogers Show would continue to set attendance records with their personal appearances around the world at state fairs and rodeos.  Among her many accomplishments, Dale received the California Mother of the Year Award in 1967 and the Texas Press Association's Texan of the Year Award in 1970.  She was also inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame and presented with the Cardinal Clarence Cook Humanities Award in 1995.

    Honored as a mother, humanitarian, award-winning author (for her classic book, "Angel Unaware") and hostess of her weekly television show on TBN, A Date with Dale, Ms. Evans is survived by 16 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren and millions of loving fans.