Curtis Tigard entered the Royal Villas Mobile Park community room last week and waved to the gathered friends. Tigard maneuvered holding a cane.



When he sat down, one of the friends noted that Tigard began using the cane only four years ago.



This is an important fact to know.



That would mean Tigard was walking around without a cane until he was 103 years old. He started using one after breaking his left leg.



Tigard turns 107 on April 13. A party will be held in his honor that day in the community room. On April 16, the Tigard Historical Association will host a birthday party at the John Tigard House - built by Curtis Tigard's uncle -- from 1 to 3 p.m.



Last week, he agreed to sit down and chat with a reporter about the birthday milestone, something of an annual ritual for Tigard since he neared and passed the century mark.



So, how does someone manage to avoid using a cane for so long?



Tigard smiles and waves, apparently too modest to answer such a question.



So the answer could be left open to speculation.



curtistigard 11 Gallery: curtistigard

Maybe it's the result of walking a 12-mile roundtrip between his Tigard home and Beaverton High School, from where he graduated in 1926 - a decade after the school opened. Tigard is said to have fueled for the school-to-home portion of the trip -- much of it along a railroad line -- by downing maple bars from a Beaverton bakery. Upon arriving at the home he shared with his parents, a sister, and brother, Tigard was responsible for chores on the family farm, including rounding up the cows.



Maybe it was the rigor of soldier's life, spent first as a Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet at Oregon Agricultural College, predecessor to Oregon State University. That was followed by active duty in the Army, where he served in North Africa, working among other things to drive the German army out of Casablanca, Morocco. He later served in Italy as the Germans retreated and, after that, in a planning role at the Pentagon. He retired in 1946 a reserve officer with the rank of Major.



Maybe it was the daily grind of public service with U.S. Bank, where he retired in 1971, serving the last 18 years as Tigard branch manager.



Maybe it's the result of playing golf for decades at Tualatin Country Club, eschewing a cart and walking the course well into his 90s. He only gave up the golfing habit after breaking his leg.



Or maybe it's genetic. For years, Tigard said he planned to outlive his mother. Rosa Hohman Tigard passed away March 20, 1975, at 104, two months shy of her 105th birthday. (Curtis Tigard's father, Charles Fremont Tigard, died in 1942 at age 80.)



Another possibility: Living a purposeful life. Maintaining his circle of friends at Royal Villas - such as Don Norris, 80; Ben Youngblood, 83; and Dorothy Sweet, 88 - has helped, particularly after Curtis' wife, Julia, passed away in 1998. She was 91 years old. Curtis and Julia Tigard were among the first people to move into Royal Villas, west of old downtown Tigard and south of Pacific Highway, after its November 1968 opening.



The purposeful life these days also includes maintaining a vegetable garden. Before arriving in the community room for the interview last week, Tigard had been tending to the garden, where he's growing tomatoes.



His mole-catching days, however, are largely a feat of the past. Tigard's prowess for trapping moles on friends' property as well as at the golf course are the stuff of legend.



Tigard also has enjoyed his role as an elder statesman, willing to share his living history at occasional Tigard Historical Association public events, said association president Martha Worley.



The John Tigard House Museum is the physical centerpiece for the association. Curtis Tigard's uncle built the house near the current location of a Shari's Restaurant on Pacific Highway. It was moved to a placed location at the corner of 103rd Avenue and Canterbury Lane in 1978. The restored one-bedroom home is full of historical photos and archives, many of which trace the history of the Tigard family.



Curtis Tigard's father, Charles Tigard, is credited with founding the town in 1886. It's a distinction that fell on him mostly because he ran the general store (among other occupations) and the post office needed a place to deliver mail. The general store was located on the northeast corner of McDonald Street and Pacific Highway, near the present location of a Goodwill store.



It was called Tigardville in the beginning, after having been also known as East Butte. Oregon Electric Railway officials convinced town leaders to change the name to Tigard in 1908 because of what they said would be potential confusion with the nearby town of Wilsonville, Worley said.



On the day of the interview, Tigard seemed to enjoy hearing his friends, including historical association secretary Phil Pasteris, fill in some of the blanks of his life's history. He served as fact checker, however, correcting one commenter who said Tigard served in the Navy. He was Army, Tigard said, although that did include a stint on a ship during World War II.



And he was brief and to the point when asked again about the secret to living such a lengthy life.



"I didn't ask for it," he said with a smile.

--Allan Brettman

503-294-5900

@allanbrettman