Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Los Gatos Weekly-Times file photograph

Star athlete David 'The Swede' Anderson played many a game on the old Los Gatos High School football field.

Picture from the Past

John S. Baggerly

Anderson family left mark on Los Gatos and football

David Anderson played football at Los Gatos High School on the field shown above and went on to the University of California, where he was starting fullback on the Golden Bears' team that defeated Alabama 13-0 in the 1938 Rose Bowl.

Andy, or "The Swede" as he was affectionately known to teammates, played in an era before unlimited substitution came into being; consequently, starters frequently played the entire game--on offense and defense--and many became known as "60-minute men." Such was Anderson at the University of California.

Anderson, born in 1916 of Los Gatos ranching parents Claus and Alida, died July 1 after a short bout with colon cancer in a Santa Barbara hospital. Two days later, his wife of 56 years, Millie Burns Anderson, died of cancer of the spine after a long illness. The family settled in Santa Barbara 30 years ago after Anderson retired from the U.S. Army with the rank of colonel.

The Andersons are survived by two sons and a daughter, David L. Anderson Jr. of Santa Barbara, Jed Anderson of El Dorado and Melissa Anderson Gambetti of Saratoga, Fla.; two sisters, Elin Anderson Stiegeler of Santa Rosa and Elsa Anderson Covell of Los Altos Hills; and brother Harry Anderson, a career Navy noncommissioned officer in La Mesa.

Dave's brother Arthur Anderson was captain of the 1940 UC-Berkeley varsity team and later worked for a Davenport sand and gravel company. He died a few years ago in Santa Cruz.

Stiegeler and Covell have retained local friendships; in fact, Stiegeler recently attended her 1938 Los Gatos High School class reunion.

Readers will recognize today's photograph as the site of present-day field sports at LGHS. Beyond is the cherry orchard that became the lighted softball field and tennis court.

In Dave Anderson's senior football season, he played on the above field. His team was undefeated in league but lost the title to once-tied Fremont. The tiny league grew to include many schools and has since been reorganized to produce parity among the competitors.

Although Anderson's senior year failed to produce a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League championship, Coach Doug Helm and the team had the satisfaction of defeating Mountain View for the first time in many years. Anderson was an all-around athlete, playing basketball and being named the school's fastest sprinter. He also served as a class officer in his senior year.

During World War II, Dave's brother Harry served aboard the U.S.S. Texas in the Atlantic and Pacific. Arthur was badly burned when his cruiser, The Louisville, was torpedoed in the Pacific, while David served on the Pacific Coast in the Army's Coastal Artillery unit, in Washington, D. C., and in Japan and Germany after the war.

Ted Fletcher, a football teammate of the Andersons at LGHS, recalls sitting in the California rooting section at Berkeley's Memorial Stadium and watching the Andersons play below.

From his Sacramento home, Fletcher said that substitutes in the days before unlimited substitution sat side by side on a long bench with their helmets at their feet. Substitutions were usually made at the end of a quarter, and the exiting player could not return during that quarter.

The field shown above was built on the site of a "truck farm" that bordered Los Gatos Creek; now it's a cement channel carrying water from Lexington Reservoir.

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