Clyde (May 27, 1895-December 31, 1968) was born in Paragould, Arkansas to Benjamin and Elizabeth (Bettie) Marshall Roper. He was the third of five: Lillian Erna, Earl, Clyde, Myrtle, and Frank. We don’t have any pictures of him as a child. This is the earliest one:

Seated in front: Benjamin Franklin Roper and Elizabeth (Bettie). Standing: Myrtle, Earl, Erna holding Elmond Draper, Clyde, Frank.

He also lived in Oklahoma as a teenager. His older brother Earl lived in Trinidad, Colorado and worked for the railroad, and that may have been the reason Clyde moved to Trinidad as a young man.

Clyde in 1915

He enlisted in the army in 1917 and was sent to Camp Custer, Michigan, and Leon Springs, Texas. He became a 2nd lieutenant, and was demobilized in 1918 because World War I ended. He was never sent overseas.

Clyde and Mabel Lee married on January 1, 1922. They settled in Trinidad and had two children, Edgar and Joan.

Edgar and Clyde, 1922

He worked for Montgomery Ward for a time, then lost that job in the depression, and eventually got a job as a traveling salesman for Nebraska Salesbook Company. That job took the family to Council Bluffs, Lincoln, Houston, Denver and finally to Albuquerque in 1945.

Clyde, Mabel and two friends (?), maybe after their wedding? 1922

Clyde, Joan, Edgar, Mary Lee Benedict, Mabel, when they lived in Houston about 1936

Clyde was outgoing and sociable, and he enjoyed his job as a travelling salesman. He had routes in southern New Mexico, southern Colorado and Arizona at different times, sometimes receiving Navajo rugs or pottery in trade for his paper products. He made a circuit through Hatch, Lordsburg, Deming, Silver City, Truth or Consequences, Alamagordo, etc. He and his daughter Joan often wrote back and forth while he was on the road.

He belonged to a lot of organizations – the Shriners, Masons, Elks, Scottish Rite, New Mexico Roadrunners (traveling salesmen organization), and more. He enjoyed the social aspect, and had many friends. He was active in his church and served as a deacon.

Grace, Mabel, Clyde in California

He and Mabel had four grandchildren (Colleen, Suky, Buddy and Steve – they called him Pappy)

Clyde, Colleen, Mabel, Steve about 1960

Suky, Clyde, Colleen 1951

Suky, Colleen, Clyde, Buddy 1953

He let his grandkids rummage through his tools and nails to make woodworking projects and go through his office supplies for their drawings, which he hung above his desk. 

An example of the products he sold, used as drawing tablets by the grandkids

He would sometimes walk through the house with Charlie, the parakeet, perched on his bald head and taught Charlie to say “lousy bird”. There were always dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. around, and he might not say so, but seemed to be fond of them – Seymour the cat, for one. Baseball and boxing on the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports , as well as the show Rawhide were some of his favorite tv shows – he would make popcorn in their slightly dangerous looking popcorn popper for the grandkids. He liked Trappy’s hot peppers, and would replace the vinegar in the bottle when it ran out to spice up his food. Sometimes he would sunbathe on his chaise lounge in the backyard – he was very pale. He didn’t like anyone to say a bad word – he was offended if he heard the word stupid used in an argument. He would soothe babies with rocking them and singing “Bayou bayou bum bum bum” . You would hardly ever see him without his pipe – there was quite a ritual involved of tapping out the tobacco, adding some from his pouch, lighting it and puffing a few times to get it going. He was never unkind.

A snippet from a letter he wrote to Edgar on New Year’s Day, 1968

Clyde

Grandfather

Great grandfather

Great great grandfather