Clayton Howland Jr. was born in Los Angeles on December 20, 1927, and spent his early years in Pomona before moving to Alhambra. He attended Alhambra high school until his parents decided they didn’t like the direction his early life was taking and moved him to the private Webb School in Claremont, California setting him on a new
path.

After graduating, Clayton served in the Coast Guard based in San Francisco from 1946 to 1948. Initially drawn to civil engineering, he attended the University of Southern California. After a summer working in the engineering field, he realized his interests were elsewhere and he switched to marketing, a direction that would shape his
career.

 

At USC he met fellow student Pauline Kerr, and they married on August 13, 1949. Clayton’s career began at Braggs Department store in Alhambra, CA. From there he went on to work for the Broadway Department Store, later known as Carter, Hawley, Hale, He worked as Buyer for women’s clothing, accessories, and cosmetics and then on to Merchandise Manager until 1979. In 1975 he started Frontier Hardware, and with assistance from his eldest son, Mark, built it into a successful enterprise. He opened a second store in Duarte.

 

Outside of work, in the 1950s he bought a lot in Green Valley Lake where designed and spent many weekends building a vacation cabin. The Howland family spent many weekends fishing, skiing, hiking, and swimming at Green Valley Lake. Clayton and Pauline had four children in quick succession from 1950 to 1955 creating a lively and loving family home.