Áegis Lodge resident Richard Frank reached a milestone lifespan of 100 years on Jan. 8.
Frank’s father William and his mother Marie Gottbarth were both born in the U.S. and were of German background. His grandmother was from the Berlin area and his father from Bavaria. Frank was born in Louisville, Ky. on Jan. 8, 1911.
Frank excelled at everything he did, placing first in all his classes from the first grade through his Stanford University Law Degree, JD Order of the Coif, Summa cum Laude, for his studies in Law and Business Administration. While still a law student, Frank co-authored two volumes of a six-volume study of American Family Law. The study recommended numerous changes in the existing law. Many of the suggestions were adopted by the various states, even before the study was completed. Frank takes pride that the head of the project never changed one word of his work but recognizes that the professor was worn out after a decade on the project and was anxious to complete it.
Richard Frank and Helen Farris were married on April 20, 1935; he was 24. They had a family of two daughters, one deceased, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
Frank spent a few years of private practice as an attorney in San Francisco. The advent of WWII took him to Washington D.C. to work in one of the temporary agencies created to manage wartime affairs. He joined the Office of Price Administration (OPA), which set the price and availability of many essential products. He was in the enforcement unit of the OPA and ultimately became the director of that unit.
With the end of the war, Frank became a professor of business law at Syracuse University in upstate New York. The long, very cold winters in Syracuse were interesting for a few years. However, when Stanford looked him up and offered a joint appointment in the Law School and School of Business Administration, he was ready to move to a warmer clime.
In 1958 California Chief Justice Gibson became dissatisfied with the haphazard way the California Court System had grown and therefore, he was determined to take corrective action. Frank was invited to join a small group to devise a way to correct the situation. Their plan called for a constitutional amendment to be approved by voters, enabling legislation to be enacted by the California Legislature. Everything was completed by 1961 and the Administrative Office of the California Courts came into being. Frank was named Deputy Director, a position he held until his retirement in 1980.
When he retired, the California Legislature adopted a joint resolution commending his career in the California Court System. 
Frank has enjoyed playing golf and tennis. He and his wife Helen lived for 12 years in a retirement home in Redmond before moving to Áegis three years ago.

Based on an interview by Bob Bolling, also a resident at Áegis Lodge.