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2 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Central Point fire injures one ... Lithia fountains back on after testing found to be 'faulty' ... Applegate woman dies in Williams Highway crash ... Central Point fire injures one ... Lithia fountains back on after testing found to be 'faulty' ... Applegate woman dies in Williams Highway crash ... 'Jack of all trades' Since 1956, this 90-year-old has been chasing bad guys while running a volunteer police force, and has no plans to slow down Ninety-year-old Frank d'Entremont, who may well be the oldest working cop in the nation, oversees a staff of 40 community service volunteers in the Ashland police department and attributes his longevity, good humor and alertness to good genes — and a dislike of idleness. Comment By JOHN DARLING MailTribune.com By JOHN DARLING Posted Apr. 23, 2007 at 12:01 AM By JOHN DARLING Posted Apr. 23, 2007 at 12:01 AM Frank d'Entremont's volunteer force has dwindle... --> 552-2121. » Read more X Frank d'Entremont's volunteer force has dwindled and he's looking to double its membership. Interested persons can call him at 552-2121. » Social News Ninety-year-old Frank d'Entremont, who may well be the oldest working cop in the nation, oversees a staff of 40 community service volunteers in the Ashland police department and attributes his longevity, good humor and alertness to good genes — and a dislike of idleness. Called a "priceless treasure" by interim Police Chief Ron Goodpaster, d'Entremont in 1982 started the volunteer program, which puts citizens on foot patrols, at data-entry computers, doing vacation house-checks and in vehicles delivering documents to courts and jails — all tasks that would cost regular police great amounts of time. He was forced to retire at age 60 from the Ashland Police department, where he'd worked from 1956 to 1977, but with an end to age-mandated retirements — and staff cutbacks — he was called back five years later. Is retirement ever going to be on the horizon? "I doubt it. I'm just not one to sit around and watch TV or be idle. I've always been active. I like work and they treat me fine," says d'Entremont, who just lost his wife of 65 years, Irene. They have three daughters. His model for a volunteer community police cadre has been copied by many cities — and officials often write or visit to see it in action and learn how to adapt it to their departments to increase public, on-the-beat contact and reduce task load. Letters from Oregon governors, congressional officials (including Sen. John Glenn) and a presidential award honor his accomplishments. "Frank's value supervising volunteers is a resource we couldn't afford (to have police do) on our own. They transport interoffice mail to the DA, sheriff, jail, city halls, juvenile hall, state police. It would be very difficult to operate without it," said Goodpaster. "He's a priceless treasure." An MIT-trained topographic engineer, d'Entremont in younger years did construction projects for the U.S. Interior Department, fought guerillas in Cuba as a U.S. Marine, worked as a production supervisor in the steam turbine branch of General Electric, ran a pet shop, trained as a professional photographer, then, finding the direction for the rest of his life, took an exam in 1950 to be an auxiliary policeman in Glendale, Calif. Although he often served as patrolman, his knack was organizing the database and records systems, a task he did 1950 to 1953 for the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, Medford police and the local Oregon State Police post. The procedures, called the Wilson System, were adopted by OSP statewide, he said. As a sergeant on the Ashland force in the 1950s, d'Antremont set up the records system — and recalls an instance of hand-to-hand combat with a transient who'd just stabbed another man. "It was in the hobo jungle behind Ashland Lumber (Oak at Hersey streets), where they had their cardboard shacks," d'Entremont recalled. "Two guys ran and hopped on a flat car that was moving slowly. I chased them and grabbed one guy's gun arm and banged it on the steel edge of the car till he dropped the gun, then I put the handcuffs on him. I found out later the other guy had a gun, too, but he didn't use it. When you get in a situation like that, you don't think about being afraid. You just do it." D'Entremont says his Marine combat training helped him. He was in several hot spots in his 1939-1942 tour with the Marines, including training with the famed "Carlson's Raiders," intercepting gun-running revolutionaries trying to overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Battista and serving as navigator on a ship that was destroying German submarine intelligence stations along the South American coast — a "hush-hush" operation before the U.S. got into World War II. Out of the blue, two years ago — and 60-plus years after the fact — the Navy Department sent him a slew of medals for his service. They hang in a shadow box in his Talent home. Another little-known fact is that this seasoned cop is also is a genuine Santa Claus, penning a response (with volunteer staff) to every child who writes a wish list addressed to the North Pole. Starting in 1992, d'Entremont and the Ashland postmaster got permission from the U.S. Postal Service to answer such letters, usually more than 100, with a postmark that says only "the North Pole." His modest heroics, visionary citizen involvement strategies and remarkable age on the job have won him many spots in news stories, including a page one National Examiner headline that said, "Bad Guys Still Fear this Cop at 80." When he was in his mid-80s, a CNN news team called him the nation's oldest working cop, an honor confirmed by the Fraternal Order of Police, he said. "He's first-class, irreplaceable," said Olaf Paul, the group's coordinator in charge of volunteers. "It's forbidden that he retire." Gail Rosenberg, assistant to the chief, said, "He's fantastic, really helps the department with his energy and always steps up to the plate with volunteer help." But d'Antremont, a longtime volunteer with 4-H, Red Cross and veterans groups, shrugs off such compliments, noting he's just a "jack of all trades," a guy who keeps in shape with long walks — and can still run when he wants to. John Darling is a freelance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected]. By JOHN DARLING MailTribune.com By JOHN DARLING Posted Apr. 23, 2007 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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