Brought to Laurens after his birth in Roger Dales was born at Aurelia Oxborne Fox Memorial Hospital, Oneonta, New York,
April 16th, 1920. His parents brought Roger, their first born child to their home in Laurens, six miles to the north. This small village would become his "base of operations" for many a year to come.

Near the age of two, Roger rolled down the main stairway, breaking his left arm. Although the break in his tiny arm was set, later in life, he would live with an arm which when extended was not the same as the other. A minor handicap, he explored the fertile watershed area of Otter Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River.