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The Gift of Fir Acres
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Aaron Frank: Lawyer, Merchant, Engineer
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For the past 30 years no one has made more big decisions affecting the economy of this region than Aaron M. Frank," reported The Oregonian in 1964. "It could be the Memorial Coliseum or flower pots on the streets or the Delta Dome. Always you began by asking: 'What does the store think of the idea?' Which meant: 'What does AMF think?"' "Disciplined," "hard-driving," "perfectionist" are the words Gerry Frank uses to describe his father, Aaron. "A lawyer by education, a merchant by profession and an engineer by interest, he was a dynamic, strong, absolute black-and-white person," he says. "There was no gray in his life. My mother, on the other hand, was a sweet, soft, loving person, They were an extraordinary couple." Aaron Frank's father, Sigmund Frank, was the partner of Aaron Meier, founder of Meier & Frank Co., at one time the fourth-largest department store in the nation. Sigmund Frank married Meier's daughter, Fannie Meier. When Aaron died in 1889, Sigmund Frank ran the company. After earning his law degree, Aaron Frank worked in the law offices of Joseph and Haney. He resigned in 1914 to manage the family store, becoming president in 1937 and chair of the board in 1964. Guiding the store through its big growth years after World War 11, Frank installed a $1.5 million escalator in the downtown store, believed in 1950 to be the longest continuous escalator in the world. "Dad ran the store with an iron fist," Gerry Frank states. "Everything had to he absolutely perfect in cleanliness and service. He was a tough boss, I know; I worked for him. He expected a lot from everybody and twice as much from his sons. My brother, Dick, who died of cancer at age 43, also worked in the store. "On Sundays (in the days before the store was open on Sunday), Dad would take me downtown to his office. He'd open his mail, and then we'd inspect the entire store. We'd even go through the restrooms to see there were no dripping faucets, broken mirrors or empty soap containers. That was his Sunday recreation. "Dad knew everything about the construction of the store," Gerry continues. "But his pride and joy was the engine room in the bottom of the store's four basements. It was so clean, you could have eaten off the floor." Aaron was on his way to Great Britain to witness Gerry's graduation from Cambridge University when he caught news of Oregon's Vanport Flood. "Dad called the chief engineer in the Portland store and over the phone described to him the gauges, valves and switches to use to ensure the basements didn't flood. He knew the engine room that well." "On Christmas Eve, he would stand at the door and personally wish each of the thousands of Meier & Frank employees a happy holiday," Gerry wrote in his Friday Surprise column for The Oregonian, Dec. 4, 1992. "Those who knew him personally saw a soft, generous and fair side that wasn't obvious in a casual encounter," Gerry reveals. "For those who knew him only by name, he was a commanding and controversial presence who was involved in just about everything that went on in the city and state that he loved." "Mayor Earl Riley seldom made a move without consulting the Meier & Frank president," according to historian Kim MacColl. "When Frank would return to the city from a business trip, he would call Riley's office and inform the secretary, 'I'm back in town."' In 1930, The Portland Realty Board honored Frank as Portland's First Citizen. In 1933, when President Roosevelt closed the banks, Meier & Frank took out a full-page advertisement with a single word: "Confidence." Hundreds brought their savings to the store for safekeeping. In 1940, after the Germans overran France, the store ran a second full-page ad: "God Bless America." The ad brought 100,000 requests for reprints. Under Aaron's leadership, the store conducted the largest single sale of war bonds in the nation, a $32-million sale that lasted two weeks in the store's auditorium. Frank developed a passion for horses, loved to ride and built his Garden Home Stables into the "pride of the West," winning numerous blue ribbons. When a fire in Oakland and a train wreck killed most of his horses within a year, he was crestfallen: "Dad felt the Lord didn't want him to have horses," Gerry confides. Aaron also loved to chase fires and felt sorry for firemen who had to work on cold nights. So, he designed the Jay W. Stevens disaster service unit, naming it after his friend, the fire marshall, and making Portland the first city in the nation to have a special car equipped for emergencies such as fires, floods and violent accidents. The Golden Gate Exposition featured the disaster unit on Portland Day. He established the Aaron Frank Scholarship fund, the first fully-funded, four-year scholarship for students to attend any Oregon institution. Aaron chaired the board of American National Bank and was later credited for its survival. He was president of the Oregon Association of the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States (AAAU) and was named to the AAAU's national executive committee, playing a key role in the careers of many athletes. He served on the national board of the American Red Cross and countless other organizations. As Hollis Thompson, city manager of Berkeley, Calif., put it in 1939, "The people need more men of the humanitarian type of Mr. Frank." "Aaron Frank was a remarkable man with an unusual sense of civic responsibility," states former Senator Mark 0. Hatfield, who knew Frank well. "He has left a strong legacy not only to Lewis & Clark but to all of Oregon." Aaron Frank died in November 1968 at the age of 77. |