Famous Roswellians: John Denver, Nancy Lopez, and Demi Moore

Roswell is best known to the outside world for an incident that happened above it in the summer of nineteen forty-seven. But the town has also produced people who became famous for things that happened very much on the ground.

John Denver was born at Saint Mary's Hospital in Roswell on December thirty-first, nineteen forty-three, when his father was stationed at Roswell Army Air Field. His given name was Henry John Deutschendorf Junior. He grew up far from Roswell, moving west and eventually becoming one of the most popular folk and country musicians of the nineteen seventies, known for songs including Rocky Mountain High and Take Me Home Country Roads.

Nancy Lopez, one of the greatest women golfers in history, grew up in Roswell. She was born in California in nineteen fifty-seven but raised here from childhood, and began playing golf with her father at the age of eight. She joined the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour in nineteen seventy-seven, and in her first full season, nineteen seventy-eight, she won nine tournaments, including five in a row, which transformed the women's professional game. She went on to win forty-eight tournaments in her career, including three major championships. A golf course in Roswell carries her name.

The actress Demi Moore was also born in Roswell, in nineteen sixty-two. The town does not publicize these residents as heavily as it publicizes the events of nineteen forty-seven, but they are part of what Roswell sent into the world.