The Willow Glen Resident

Willow Glen Resident file photograph

History in the Making: Clyde Arbuckle displays the cover of his comprehensive book on San Jose.

Renowned chronicler of the past becomes part of history

Clyde Arbuckle, an expert on San Jose history, dies at 94

By Cecily Barnes

As San Jose historian Clyde Arbuckle lay dying in his son's arms late Saturday night, his last words were devoted to what had been his life's passion--the history of San Jose.

"Just a few minutes before he passed, he was giving one of his lectures on San Jose history," Jim Arbuckle said. "He was saying something about the Ryland building and the old court house. Maybe his life was going before his eyes."

He died in the hallway, with Jim helping him from the bathroom back to bed.

"He just didn't have any energy left," Arbuckle said.

And while the entire city mourns the loss of San Jose's leading historian, the 94-year-old has left an enormous legacy behind, including the authoritative book on San Jose history, Clyde Arbuckle's History of San Jose.

William Clyde Arbuckle was born in Santa Clara in 1903. His family arrived in the valley by covered wagon, two years before gold was struck.

"His family came out the same year as the Donners," said Leonard McKay, a San Jose historian and publisher of Arbuckle's book. "They passed the Donners on the trail."

Arbuckle attended Santa Clara High School until the age of 15, when he quit school and drove horses to help support the family.

"He had to go to work to help support his mother," Jim Arbuckle said. "He would drive a truck during the day and write in the evenings. He started out driving horses."

At age 29, Arbuckle married his wife, Helen, and had two children, Jim and Susan. When Jim was nearly 3 years old, Arbuckle began laying the foundation for their Willow Glen home on Franquette Avenue, the home he died in Saturday night.

"At night we could hear him at the typewriter," Jim said, "working away at articles, developing his craft."

When Arbuckle became San Jose's city historian in 1945, he began his legacy as the leading authority on San Jose history. In 1949 he worked as the curator for the San Jose Historical Museum, and was commissioned by the city in 1970 to write the city's history. Fifteen years later, Clyde Arbuckle's History of San Jose was published. This 535-page book is recognized as the authoritative book on San Jose's history. The book's publisher, Leonard McKay, recognizes Arbuckle as the reason he became involved in local history.

"He never graduated from high school but he was a teacher," McKay said. "He taught and inspired so many people about the history of the area. He was definitely the inspiration for many of us who are involved in local history now."

Up until recently, Arbuckle would make weekly visits to McKay's historical shop, called Memorabilia of San Jose.

"I would drive him home and I'd usually take a different route," McKay said. "He would tell me every person who lived in every house along the way, and why this street was named this and that one was named that."

Over the past two years, Arbuckle's hearing began to go. But up until the very end, his mind, memory and San Jose's story remained sharp and clear in his mind.

The memorial for Clyde Arbuckle will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at the Masonic Temple, 2500 Masonic Drive. The service is open to the public.

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