He made $7.50 a week, ….

He made $7.50 a week, gave $5 to his mother and had $2.50 for himself.

After graduating from high school, Cliff continued to work on the farm full time.

When the farmer failed to pay Cliff for two weeks, Cliff told him that he would have to leave and find a new job.

The following Monday, Cliff took a train into Boston and went to an employment agency, where he was hired on the spot to work as an office boy at an insurance agency.

When WWII started, Cliff wanted to be a pilot, but he is color blind.

As a testament to his tenacity, he took the test five times but could not pass it. Nonetheless, he joined the Army and served in the Mediterranean.

He remembers crossing the Atlantic from New York to Ireland on the Queen Mary.

A little known fact was that the ship hit a mine sweeper on that voyage and cut the mine sweeper in half.

They didn’t want the Germans to know, and it was said to be the best kept secret of the war.

Several years ago, Cliff was part of the Honor Flight Society, which went to Washington, D.C., for a weekend to see the WWII Memorial and others.

A highlight of his trip was meeting Sen. Bob Dole. He was also very impressed with Fort McHenry.

After the war, Cliff attended Boston College but had to finish up his bachelor’s degree at night since he and his wife had their first child.

He started as a clerk at a food company, and they hired him later as a purchasing agent because of his college education.

Throughout his life, Cliff was athletic.

He especially loved to ski and jog. He often ran 12 10K races a year. He still rides an exercise bike to stay fit.

He values his mental clarity and does puzzles and word games daily.

He volunteered at Care Connections, an adult daycare center that was held at Redeemer Lutheran church in Leisure World after his second wife, Georgia, passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2007. He continued his volunteer service up until COVID-19 hit and caused the daycare center to close. Cliff received the Presidential Award for his years of volunteer service. Although macular degeneration has taken most of his eyesight, Cliff describes himself as content and happy. He has technology that helps with his vision as well as a machine that reads books to him. He fixes his own meals and is conscious of eating healthy.

Reflecting back on his life, Cliff wishes he had shown his mother more appreciation. “Women in those days were the real workers,” he said. His mother washed clothes by hand, baked bread and worked long hours each day raising five children. His father died at 72, but his mother lived to be 84. His five siblings all lived well into their 80s. He never met his grandparents who lived in Canada and Denmark.

Currently, Cliff is a participant at the Easter Seals Senior Center, located in Brea, thanks to his special friend, Edna Santos.

He met Edna several years ago when she was running the adult daycare center, and Cliff was a volunteer.

They have remained friends, and when Edna began working at Easter Seals, she suggested that Cliff come as a participant instead of a volunteer.

Cliff has met many wonderful caring people, both at Care Connections and more recently at Easter Seals.

Cliff says the best thing about volunteering is the friends that you make along the way.

That is certainly the case for him.

Happy 105th birthday to Clifford Pedersen.