The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Swift Passage: Frank Clough, who turns 100 on Jan. 30, was on the scene when the term "freeway" was coined.

Willow Glen resident set to celebrate 100th birthday

Frank Clough wants to see 2000 to say he's lived in three different centuries

By Christine M. Lias

Frank Clough certainly doesn't look like a man about to pass the century mark. The Willow Glen resident, who will turn 100 years old on Jan. 30, even laughs when asked about his upcoming centennial birthday. "I can't hardly understand it myself. ... I don't feel old," Clough said. "I think I'm in pretty good physical shape for someone my age, if you don't count the condition of my ears or eyes."

On first glance, one gets the impression that Clough was once a physically imposing man. Walker and hearing aids aside, Clough has a firm handshake and the attentiveness of a hawk as he sits in the lobby of Willow Glen Villa, the senior-citizen center that has been his home for the past nine years.

"I've always been active. I've used this walker for the past year, yet I can walk faster than practically everyone here," Clough said.

And he can talk fast, too, considering the number of stories Clough has to tell.

Clough was born Jan. 30, 1898, in Minnesota. When he was 6 years old, his parents moved him and his three sisters to sunny California. The family lived in the booming town of San Diego, where Frank graduated from high school in 1918.

"He's seen everything, from horse-and-buggy days to modern technology," said Norm Martin, director of resident relations at the villa.

When Clough graduated from high school, World War I had just ended, and positions for engineers were abundant. Clough jumped on the bandwagon and enrolled in the officer's training program at Cal-Tech in Pasadena, in the school of engineering. His interests lay in both hydraulics and athletics.

According to Clough, he could outrun his college friends in track and field and was "one of the best" in the state of California. After two years at Cal-Tech, Clough was offered a scholarship at Oregon State University to run track and field. He took the scholarship and graduated with a degree in engineering in 1924.

Just out of college, Clough was offered a job in Washington state on a project to develop the Columbia River. However, his heart remained in California.

"I was engaged to a girl in Pasadena, and she made it clear in no uncertain terms that I should be with her," Clough chuckled.

Clough took a civil engineering job in South Pasadena, where he made $150 a month overseeing the city sewers and water supply. Later, he was appointed city engineer, a position he held for 12 years. After that, he served as city manager of South Pasadena from 1936 to 1960.

In the 1950s, Clough was up for the city manager's job in San Jose. He lost out to Anthony P. "Dutch" Hamann, who held the position from 1950 to 1969.

In 1941, the Arroyo Seco Parkway was opened, connecting Pasadena to Los Angeles. Clough was instrumental in the project and present at a historic moment.

"We were all sitting around talking about the name of the boulevard. In those days, they were called tollways. Someone said, 'Hell, we shouldn't call it a tollway because it's free. Let's call it a freeway.' The name stuck, and now they're all called freeways," Clough said.

Soon after Clough's wife died about 10 years ago, Clough thought about moving to the Bay Area. One son lived in Campbell and another in Los Gatos. Both urged their father to move to the San Jose area.

Clough is determined to turn 100. He may even live to see the new millennium.

"I was born in 1898. If I can live to the year 2000, I can say that I've lived in three different centuries. Few people can say that," Clough said.

And his secret to longevity?

"I've enjoyed life. I've lived the good life, in moderation," Clough said. "I drink, but only one drink at a time. I still drink a Jack Daniel's highball before dinner."

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