Long-time APD officer turns 90
Decades of law enforcement work, a stint as a professional photographer and a business as a wholesale jewelry salesman didn't wear Frank d'Entremont out.
D'Entremont, 90, spent 56 years in law enforcement in Southern California and the Rogue Valley, and his role as community service volunteer coordinator for the Ashland Police Department is as relevant as ever. When he was 80 years old, CNN aired a segment on him as the oldest certified police officer in the country still on active duty. At 90, he might not do as much work as at 80, but his charisma keeps the department smiling.
A smile curves at the edges of his mouth as he tells stories about police work in the 1960s and 1970s, and a soft Boston accent still lingers after half a century on the West Coast.
D'Entremont turned 90 on Monday. Even though he only works half time, the policeman oversees a handful of volunteer programs in the community.
"I'm not one to sit around doing nothing to begin with, so I've got to keep active," d'Entremont said.
D'Entremont moved to Southern California in 1950 after a jewelry wholesale business went belly-up. He studied in the Fred Archer School of Photography in Los Angeles, and a friend convinced him to take his photography skills to the LAPD. He took the entrance exam and ended up on the force.
In 1953, smog in the city began to aggravate a lung problem, and d'Entremont moved to Southern Oregon where he settled in Ashland. He said things were different in Ashland and in the department then.
"There were lumber mills just about everywhere you would go," he said. "Now there aren't any."
He said the police department relied on dedicated officers to buy their own jackets and guns. The police car he drove had a spotlight, but no red light. Some red paint from the dime store tuned it up, he said, and the Ashland Police Department had a red light.
D'Entremont said there wasn't any high point that stands out in his lengthy career, but rescuing the owner of Omar's Fresh Seafood and Steaks wife from a kidnapper brings a smile to his face as he talks about an averted disaster.
He said the path to law enforcement came naturally.
"I always felt that I should give something to the country or the community where I live, so it was just a natural thing for me to get into law enforcement," he said.
In 1977, d'Entremont retired from the force. In 1984, amid budget cuts, then Chief of Police Vic Lively offered to bring him back to oversee a pilot volunteer program that would help keep up some of the services that could have gone away. Today, he still oversees the program. At one time, d'Entremont oversaw about 2,000 volunteers in the city.
Parker Hess, who will also turn 90 in June, has been a friend of d'Entremont's for decades. Hess was on the force before d'Entremont arrived and later moved on to become postmaster. Hess was nominated grand marshal in the city's Fourth of July parade in 2006 — an honor d'Entremont received also.
"He was a great guy, and he still is," Hess said. "I respect and admire his work, and I think a great deal of Ashlanders do too."
D'Entremont's daughter, Lorraine Rawls — a professional musician and documentarian — said she constantly sees her father saving resources and money for the city with his frugal ways.
"Dad's the type of guy who picks up old stationary and cuts it up into note pads," Rawls said.
She said d'Entremont's job working part time and keeping volunteers in touch is good for him and the city.
"It's really a wonderful thing," she said.
Jack Sutherland served as a sergeant and officer in the Ashland Police Department between 1964 and 1987. He said d'Entremont has always been an easy guy to get along with. Sutherland said he was never fazed, but there was "never a boring day."
"I had a lot of good years with the guy, I'll tell you that," he said.
D'Entremont still has coffee with the "Old Geezers Club" of long-time officers, and he tells stories about the classic days in Ashland. He credits his Nova Scotian heritage for his youthful appearance and vigor at 90, and he said it is the people in Ashland who keep him excited about his job.
"I like it," he said. "I like the people I work with, and when you got that combination, well, why not?"
Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or apanebaker@dailytidings.com.
