Rollie Williams
2011 Hall of Fame Inductee
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Rollin LeRoy Williams was born March 5, 1902, in Vistula, Indiana, his parents, were Agnes and Harvey Williams. He had a brother and 2 sisters. Harvey was an Elkhart, In. policeman, who died in 1916.
Rollie and his brother, Roger went to work to support the family. Roger then went into the army and support was left to Rollie, who worked 2 jobs and continued his education. He managed to save $1000 after high school and went to University of Illinois to understudy Red Grange. Rollie was an excellent football player and Knute Rockne once said, "the best football player he saw coming out of high school". However after two threatening letters from the KKK, the protestant/catholic situation back in the day, it was on to Illinois, not Notre Dame for Rollie. A broken collar bone and too expensive called for a change and Rollie spent 2 years in Greencastle at DePauw University, class of 1927. Pretty good for $1000.
He married Beatrice Meyers, and became assistant manager of the Montgomery Ward store in Rockford, Ill. In 1933 he borrowed $300 from his mother and step-father to buy a Texaco station with adjoining restaurant to capitalize on traffic coming from the east to attend the Chicago Worlds Fair. The restaurant phased into tires, batteries, auto parts and then into paints for the home owner, auto, and mobile home industries. The business became known as Rollie Williams Paint Spot. It is still in business, with 5 locations, including Indianapolis and owned by Tom Curtis and his family, Rollie's nephew. Bea and Rollie had 3 children, an infant who died shortly after birth, Sharon Williams Ubben (Mrs. Timothy) of Glencoe, Il. and Naples, Fl. and Jerry Williams (Jane) of Tampa, Fl.
In 1947, Bea & Rollie bought a home on the St. Joseph river in Elkhart. About the same time, Mac White returned from military service and bought a 17' Chris-Craft and Winner water skis. Mac attempted to teach the neighborhood to ski. In order to speed things up, his rules called for 2 skiers to learn at a time and to be sitting on a narrow dock with a diving board. According to son Jerry, it was sheer terror but everyone learned. Before long, Rollie bought a used 17' Chris-Craft with 95 HP engine and upgraded to CC Riviera with 131 HP a few years later. Water skiing came to the St. Joe in earnest. About that time, Rollie was constructing a building for his business to accommodate expansion. There was lumber around so his son Jerry, decided to build a ski jump. He used 13 gallon barrels for floats - and the jump fell over. So Jerry anchored the jump with 2X4's driven into the sand in a shallow part of the St. Joe River. It was way too steep, like skiing into the side of a barn, so Rollie wrote the AWSA, got the plans and had one professionally built, before Jerry could get into real trouble. And that was the start of real competitive skiing on the St. Joe. The family skied in the Indiana State Tournament on Lake Wawasee in front of South Shore Inn in very rough water in 1950. Rollie, Sharon & Jerry, skied in Indiana State tournaments through out the 50’s.
Rollie skied in MidWest Regional tournaments in '52 thru '56, and Nationals in "52 - Minocqua, Wi, '54 - Lake Winnipesaukee, NH and ’56 LaPorte, IN '56. He continued to ski in the Midwest Regionals and a few tournaments in Florida. He also skied at Cypress Gardens in 1960. He stayed involved, into the early 60's. When Rollie learned there was a Veterans Division for those over 55, he jumped right in so to speak. The results of a lot of those tournaments have been provided by his family and are posted on the wall behind me.
Sadly, Rollie was diagnosed with lymphoma, probably due to toxicity of paints, and passed away in 1965. His widow, Bea, passed away in 1998. Bea & Rollie are survived by 5 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren in addition to their daughter and son.
Here to accept Rollie’s induction into the Indiana Water Ski Hall of Fame is his son Jerry Williams and Jerry’s wife Jane.
Rollie and his brother, Roger went to work to support the family. Roger then went into the army and support was left to Rollie, who worked 2 jobs and continued his education. He managed to save $1000 after high school and went to University of Illinois to understudy Red Grange. Rollie was an excellent football player and Knute Rockne once said, "the best football player he saw coming out of high school". However after two threatening letters from the KKK, the protestant/catholic situation back in the day, it was on to Illinois, not Notre Dame for Rollie. A broken collar bone and too expensive called for a change and Rollie spent 2 years in Greencastle at DePauw University, class of 1927. Pretty good for $1000.
He married Beatrice Meyers, and became assistant manager of the Montgomery Ward store in Rockford, Ill. In 1933 he borrowed $300 from his mother and step-father to buy a Texaco station with adjoining restaurant to capitalize on traffic coming from the east to attend the Chicago Worlds Fair. The restaurant phased into tires, batteries, auto parts and then into paints for the home owner, auto, and mobile home industries. The business became known as Rollie Williams Paint Spot. It is still in business, with 5 locations, including Indianapolis and owned by Tom Curtis and his family, Rollie's nephew. Bea and Rollie had 3 children, an infant who died shortly after birth, Sharon Williams Ubben (Mrs. Timothy) of Glencoe, Il. and Naples, Fl. and Jerry Williams (Jane) of Tampa, Fl.
In 1947, Bea & Rollie bought a home on the St. Joseph river in Elkhart. About the same time, Mac White returned from military service and bought a 17' Chris-Craft and Winner water skis. Mac attempted to teach the neighborhood to ski. In order to speed things up, his rules called for 2 skiers to learn at a time and to be sitting on a narrow dock with a diving board. According to son Jerry, it was sheer terror but everyone learned. Before long, Rollie bought a used 17' Chris-Craft with 95 HP engine and upgraded to CC Riviera with 131 HP a few years later. Water skiing came to the St. Joe in earnest. About that time, Rollie was constructing a building for his business to accommodate expansion. There was lumber around so his son Jerry, decided to build a ski jump. He used 13 gallon barrels for floats - and the jump fell over. So Jerry anchored the jump with 2X4's driven into the sand in a shallow part of the St. Joe River. It was way too steep, like skiing into the side of a barn, so Rollie wrote the AWSA, got the plans and had one professionally built, before Jerry could get into real trouble. And that was the start of real competitive skiing on the St. Joe. The family skied in the Indiana State Tournament on Lake Wawasee in front of South Shore Inn in very rough water in 1950. Rollie, Sharon & Jerry, skied in Indiana State tournaments through out the 50’s.
Rollie skied in MidWest Regional tournaments in '52 thru '56, and Nationals in "52 - Minocqua, Wi, '54 - Lake Winnipesaukee, NH and ’56 LaPorte, IN '56. He continued to ski in the Midwest Regionals and a few tournaments in Florida. He also skied at Cypress Gardens in 1960. He stayed involved, into the early 60's. When Rollie learned there was a Veterans Division for those over 55, he jumped right in so to speak. The results of a lot of those tournaments have been provided by his family and are posted on the wall behind me.
Sadly, Rollie was diagnosed with lymphoma, probably due to toxicity of paints, and passed away in 1965. His widow, Bea, passed away in 1998. Bea & Rollie are survived by 5 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren in addition to their daughter and son.
Here to accept Rollie’s induction into the Indiana Water Ski Hall of Fame is his son Jerry Williams and Jerry’s wife Jane.
