Former longtime town librarian John Smuck was happy to accept this historical scrapbook for the library's archives.

Los Gatos Weekly-Times file photograph

Picture from the Past

Scrapbook lists many ties to town and its old-timers

By John S. Baggerly

It was back in 1988 that Los Gatos librarian John Smuck welcomed a surprise gift--the scrapbook of former County Sheriff James Lyndon, who worked the famous McGlincey murders in Campbell. He was the brother of John Lyndon, who built almost all of early downtown Los Gatos.

It was another longtime Los Gatan, the late Eleanor McLean Belden, who made certain that the scrapbook "came home." When her cousin, firefighter Bill Lyndon retired, he and his wife took his uncle's scrapbook with them to Fresno. When he died, his widow agreed with cousin Belden that the thick book should be in the Los Gatos Library.

Belden brought the scrapbook "home" and John Smuck, the librarian from 1955 to 1988, was happy to receive it. His service started in the town's Carnegie Library on University Avenue, which was sacrificed a year later to make parking space for the adjoining St. Luke's Episcopal Church. The library was moved to its current Civic Center home after a short lodging in quarters across E. Main Street, next to the present-day Recreation Department building.

Lifelong friend Los Gatan Virginia Dobler reported that Belden died recently in Santa Barbara and that her husband Richard is seriously ill. Other survivors are a daughter Leslie Belden and her four children. Dobler and Belden became friends during their days at the old University Avenue school.

Before and after graduation in 1935, Belden served as receptionist for Horace Jones, a local doctor. As World War II approached, Jones arranged for McLean to work for a doctor in San Francisco. When the United States entered the war, clubs for service men were many, as were Junior Officers' Clubs. It was at a Junior Officer Club that Belden met her husband-to-be, Dick Belden, a member of a landed Santa Barbara family.

Soon after her Los Gatos High School graduation, Dobler married Louie Sporleder, a longtime volunteer fireman and son of a pioneer local fireman. For many years Sporleder also owned and operated a downtown service station.

The couple had three sons, Louis Jr., who drives a truck for hire in Santa Cruz; Doug, Chief of the Santa Clara County Fire District; and Steve, Chief of the Saratoga Fire Department.

After the death of her husband, Virginia Dobler Sporleder visited her friend Belden at her home in Santa Barbara. While in the south, Virginia met and married Kellogg Beach; they took up residence in Los Gatos a few months ago.

Flashing back to grammar school days, Ted Fletcher, now of Sacramento, and this writer took to calling Eleanor McLean Belden "Skin and Bones." This was later reduced to "Bones." It bothered both of us that we never gathered up the decency to apologize. Not to worry. Virginia Dobler Sporleder Beach explained that Belden was proud of the nickname and often referred to herself as "Bones."

Virginia of the many last names recalled that she herself was called "Double Ears." This columnist was "Bag Ears" and Peggy Lucier was "Loose Ears."

More about the McGlincey murders at a later date.

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