Dan Clinton
Dennis Whitley
What do helicopters, Bill Gates, and Singapore have in common? Not much really, but all three were part of Dan Clinton’s life before PebbleCreek.
Dan was born in California, but spent most of his childhood and adult life in Oregon. After completing his ROTC at Oregon State, Dan enlisted in the Army and requested a shot at being a pilot. He passed his test to be a pilot and was then sent to Texas and Alabama to train to become a helicopter pilot. After training, Dan spent the rest of his time in the Army flying helicopters in Germany as one of the first units to have armed helicopters.
Once back in the U.S., Dan went back to Oregon State where he earned a degree in mathematics and then joined IBM, where he worked for thirty years. Having started in the computer industry when mainframes and punch cards were the technology of the day, Dan has witnessed the evolution of the information age that has taken us from computers that needed their own room, to personal computers, to the smart phone in your pocket. Actually, one of Dan’s first projects was the installation of a mainframe for the Secretary of State of Oregon, which didn’t have the capacity of today’s cell phone.
At IBM, Dan started as a systems engineer before moving into software development and sales. It was here that Dan got to work on and promote some of the software that took us from keyboard commands to icons and the use of a mouse. Dan actually demonstrated some of this new and cool technology to a trade show attendee named Bill Gates. Bill thought it was cool, too.
Not only did Dan meet Bill Gates while working at IBM, he also met his wife Beverly there. They both spent their entire careers at IBM and their last assignment for the company was in Singapore, which they both enjoyed. Since retiring, they have enjoyed traveling abroad and spending their summers in Logan, Utah as part of the Summer Citizens Program.
Dan and Beverly discovered PebbleCreek while visiting a friend who lived here. During that visit, Dan ran into a fraternity buddy who asked him if he wanted to buy his house complete with all furnishings. Dan and Bev bought that home and have been there since 2004. Obviously, PebbleCreek made a positive impression on them quickly and they both still enjoy the active lifestyle, tennis, and golf.
Dan has been a member of the PebbleCreek Tennis Club for years and is very active with the men’s drop-in program and that is why he is our Tennis Player of the Month.