“Many of her former students remember her well. Thelma Rhinelander, whose father, E.E. Springer, was Town Marshall 1900-1908, was in the first grade class of 1906. She described her first teacher as usually wearing a floor-length skirt, blouse and high-button shoes. She was a brunette and wore her hair in a knot on top of her head. When asked what kind of teacher Van Meter was, Rhinelander said, ‘Oh, marvelous! Oh, wonderful! She was very strict about writing, so precise about forming the letters correctly, that I still have pretty good handwriting.’
“Bud Baumgardner’s father owned Twentieth Century Tea Store in the Ford Opera House building from 1904-1916. Bud was in Miss Van Meter’s first grade class of 1915. He said he could draw the ‘Palmer Method’ letters perfectly on the blackboard but when it came to writing them on a piece of pape, that was another story.
“Baumgartner said, ‘ Miss Van Meter made learning interesting. When we had a geography lesson she brought little dolls dressed in costumes of different countries, and I never forgot those countries.’
“’She also liked to reward good work in unusual ways. Whoever could do the arithmetic problems on the blackboard first got a fast ball pitched to him. One of my classmates, Frank Crosetti, loved it. He got to be the top mathematician in the class. From then on, all through school, I never saw him without a baseball mitt attached to his belt. Maybe that’s why Crosetti went all the way to the top and became the best shortstop the Yankees ever had.’
This 1899 1st grade class was taught by Miss Van Meter.
“Luella Erickson Rudolph, whose father owned the blacksmith shop on Main Street at Jackson, says that. . . .when she got to University Avenue School in 1921 to start the third grade she was quite impressed with the tall, thin and angular, prim Miss Van Meter.
“Rudolph goes on to say, ‘You have to remember that in those days a young woman could teach, or be a seamstress. But teachers used to be highly respected. The school board kept a watchful eye on the conduct of all their teachers. A female teacher could go somewhere with a father, brother, or uncle, and that was about it. And, you know, a woman could no longer teach if she got married.’
“But what did this magical lady do when she wasn’t drilling her children in the three ‘R’s? Barbara Jones wrote that at least once between 1905-10, her mother and grandfather met Louise and her mother, Rebecca, in Pacific Grove for a summer holiday. Jones also remembered hearing stories about Louise and Rebecca stopping occasionally by Sarah Winchester’s house (now a.k.a. the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose) for a cup of tea.’
“For several years Miss Van Meter . . . (lived) . . . in a small Victorian cottage at 266 E. Main.” There she lived with and cared for her mother, while teaching full time, until her mother’s death. There she continued to live until her own death in 1948.”
This little cottage must have been approximately across the street from the “new” Los Gatos High School. The high school used to be one wing of the University Avenue Grammar School , which eventually became overcrowded. In 1908 the first Los Gatos High School building was erected, approximately where the school library building is now.
Then, in 1925, the Main Building, in Greek revival style, with its distinctive two columns, was erected on East Main Street, close to Miss Van Meter’s home. Two powerhouses of Los Gatos education were thus located near each other for a time.
Miss Van Meter in her later years circa 1940
To conclude Mardi Bennett’s article: “She retired in 1928. About that time Luella Rudolph remembers Miss Van Meter creating quite a stir by running her errands around town in a sporty new Model A Ford coupe.
“During these years Van Meter was a member of the History Club. . .
“The two greatest joys of her retirement years were the steady stream of former students who came to visit and the supreme honor of having the new elementary school out on Los Gatos Boulevard named for her.
“Her arthritis steadily worsened during the last few years of her life, and finally she became bedridden.
“The decision on the name for the school was made in the spring of 1948, just before Miss Van Meter’s death on December 3, 1948. Friends say she was confident that new educational ground would be broken all over again at the end of the century.
2013 photo of Louise Van Meter School on Los Gatos Blvd.
“Louise Van Meter, spinster, schoolteacher, and caring educator of more than 1,000 6-year olds, practiced a unique kind of spellbinding. She would have been pleased to hear Bud Baumgardner say, ‘The things she taught were lasting—things I will never, ever forget.’ ”