Jamestown man rich with friends

Mother Lode Coffee Shop owner Leslie West serves a brownie sundae to Clinton Vert. Amy Alonzo Rozak/Union Democrat, copyright 2009

He lives in a one-room cabin just off Main Street in Jamestown, and runs errands for the town’s merchants.

His income is small — a couple of pension checks — and he doesn’t put on airs. His attire last week consisted of a hooded sweatshirt, jeans and tennis shoes.
  

He’s not well off financially, but in many ways Clinton is the richest man in the world.

The slender octogenarian with short white hair and big blue eyes spends his days brightening the lives of others in the town he has adopted as his own. He’s collected many friends along the way.

Merchants describe him as “a real gentleman,” “the unofficial mayor of Jamestown” and “the town greeter.”

They say he enriches lives with his big smile and warm, friendly hugs. On the other hand, Clinton says he’s grateful for the life he lives.

His “work day” usually begins with breakfast at the Mother Lode Coffee Shop and ends at the same place with dessert and a large helping of light conversation.

He walks the length of Main Street every day with a jaunty step, stopping to see if any of the merchants need mail delivered or want him to get change for them at the bank. Along the way, some ask him to pick up lunch or run some other errand.

He never asks for pay, although some find ways to help him in return.

For example, the town’s merchants gave him a big 80th birthday party on April 15.

Clinton is our hero,” said Karen Luckhart, of La Petite Maison. “He is here faithfully, every day, and we all love him.”

Her store manager, Shelley Bales, describes Clinton as a charming gentleman.

“He is always spoiling us,” she said. “He tends to think of us as his damsels in distress. He looks after us and makes sure we are alright. He even bought us each a lily for Easter.”

Louise Sailors, a waitress at the coffee shop, said she has been serving Clinton for 15 years.

“He’s a real sweetheart with a heart of gold,” she said. “He’s like the angel of Jamestown, always trying to help people out. I’ve gotten necklaces and earrings from him, too.”

Melody Armstrong-Cate, owner of Old Glory Antiques, said Clinton gives her a lucky hug to start her day and sometimes brings her flowers.

“He makes me feel lucky every day when he walks in with his big smile and says ‘Hello, darlin’,’ ” she said. “He treats my customers the same way, telling stories about the past and welcoming them to Jamestown. That man is truly 80 years young. There is something very special about him. I’m really grateful that I know him.” 

Before retiring in the early 1990s, Clinton was a dishwasher at the National Hotel for 14 years.

“He missed one day in all that time,” said hotel owner Steve Willey. “He didn’t have a phone, so he came to work to tell me he was too sick to work. That’s the kind of guy Clinton is.”

Willey said he would sometimes take Clinton to a favorite fishing spot and help him set up a tent.

“He loved to fish,” Willey said. “He hardly ever caught anything, but he didn’t care.”

Clinton is a native of Idaho, but has lived in Tuolumne County most of his life. He graduated from Twain Harte Elementary School and in 1950 from Sonora High.

After high school, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and spent one year and 11 months in Korea as a combat infantryman.

He went to Idaho after he got out of the Army because that’s where his family had gone.

“But I didn’t like the weather there,” he said, “so I came back to Tuolumne County and never left.”

He worked for Pickering Lumber Company in Standard and Tuolumne for many years, until he was laid off when the company’s box factory closed during the early 1970s.

He said he was married four times.

The first marriage was a have-to occasion because the girl was pregnant.

“That didn’t last long,” he said. “She and my daughter still live in Idaho.”

The love of his life was his second wife.

“We were married six years, until she was killed in a wreck in Standard,” he said. “She was the perfect wife. I was married two more times, but they didn’t pan out, so I left, and I’ve been single ever since. I’m good friends now with all the pretty ladies.”

Clinton said he is healthy for the most part and never goes to doctors or takes pills.

“I don’t have the money to shell out for them,” he said. “The only bad habit I have is that I smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. I started when I was in high school.”

He enjoys a stress-free life, running errands and visiting friends during the daytime and relaxing at home at night, often watching television.    

“Everybody likes me, and I even get to hug the pretty ladies,” he said as he relaxed with a brownie sundae at the Mother Lode Coffee Shop after making his rounds one day last week. “I have a lot of good friends. What else could I want in life?”