Frank A. Clauson

A poster child for the Greatest Generation, Frank was born to a young Swedish immigrant who crossed the Atlantic, sailed past the Statue of Liberty, walked through Ellis Island, and lived his dream. Frank admired his dad and lived by his creed: hard work, integrity and loyalty.

Frank had a different dream. From the beginning, engineering was in Frank’s blood, and MIT was a perfect match for his exceptional mind; the world was his oyster. In an era when America had a love affair with cars and oil was revered, Texaco made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Lured by the Siren Song of the land of orange groves and palm trees and blue waves, Frank headed west for California, never realizing his trip would lead to a forty-three year career.

Fortunately for us, an intelligent, Iowan beauty, Evelyn Parish, was hired as his secretary. Sparks flew, courtship ensued, and Frank had the good sense to put a ring on her finger. On July 21, 1946, Frank and Evelyn married and a family was born. Theirs has been a loving, devoted marriage, a partnership of sixty-eight years and the genesis of three generations, Daddy’s greatest achievement.

For the next six decades, family would be Frank’s heart, literally. In the backdrop of the 1950’s and 1960’s, family life looked more like ‘’Leave it to Beaver” than “Modern Family.” Mom presided over the children and a Martha Stewart household, while Frank accomplished all things engineering. Inside our family home, Bruce listened to “The Four Seasons,” Carol practiced “The Sound of Music” on the piano, and Robert accumulated merit badges. A master of understatement, Daddy’s actions spoke volumes. We took for granted that he loved us and would provide for us. Of course, he would be at our graduations and weddings. Naturally, he believed in church and God. And when we hurt, he hurt more. Daddy was larger than life, and we looked up to him. At the time, we were not aware that we were beyond fortunate; we were oblivious to the reality that we lived a charmed life.

We were, by extension, members of the Texaco family as well. These engineers were the Texaco A-Team, brilliant minds from MIT and Georgia Tech and Cal Tech. But to us they were the gentlemen of oil. Their families were our family, sharing Easter and Thanksgiving feasts, playing bridge, and cruising the world. We knew “You could trust your car to the man who [wore] the star,” because the man was Daddy.

During our most recent family dinner, Daddy unexpectedly stated, “I want to speak.” The request caught us off guard; all eyes were on Dad. He spoke eloquently at length about his father and the courage it took to sail across the ocean to follow his dream. Daddy wanted to be sure we never forgot Grandpa Clauson. However, we told him what Grandpa already knew, that Daddy was a great man, too, and their legacy lives on in each of the future generations.

Tack sa mycket (Thank you very much), Dad