Historic Cemetery tour not the usual Halloween party

By Barbara Luis
Staff Writer

For a unique and spooky way to ditch the old Halloween party routine, you might want to consider the upcoming nighttime flashlight tour of Los Gatos Memorial Park. That’s right, a well-qualified local historian takes “adults only” on a two-hour evening tour of the sprawling cemetery complete with refreshments and prizes and lots of enthralling background on who may be buried underfoot, “starring” several pioneering families of the Los Gatos area.

Professional genealogist Sue Bruce shows a grown-up group of intrepid followers a different side of the local park starting at 8 p.m. on Halloween night, Oct. 31.

She has closely studied the history of Los Gatos and parts of the Almaden Valley for the last several years and currently serves as a volunteer historian for the History Museum of San Jose. Bruce is a stay-at-home mother of two who originates from England but she and her family have resided in the San Jose area for the last seven years.

She is also the owner/operator of “Rootz” Genealogy Services in the Almaden Valley.
Second only to motherhood, Bruce says genealogy has become her “passion. I have been visiting the cemetery on and off for over three years,” said Bruce, “looking for tombstones, helping people with their local ancestry and over the years have built up a good relationship (with cemetery management).

“ I started about 15months ago, interested in the idea of doing a historical tour, which (cemetery management) thought was a great idea. The first tour was mostly made up of staff! From that point on they have been extremely supportive.”

Bruce has previously conducted five tours of the wooded cemetery, but this is the first event conducted on Halloween night. She says participants may be surprised at the familiar names they’ll come across during the tour (Kennedy, Daves, Milliken, Tait, Yocco) as those used for a number of local streets, buildings and schools around the Los Gatos-Almaden area.

For example, Bruce says three consecutive generations of the Place family ran an undertaking business established in the center of Los Gatos. If you’re wondering where they might have operated, check out the Chart House restaurant housed in the mortuary’s original location on North Santa Cruz Boulevard in downtown Los Gatos.
Bruce also discovered that the “really old” Los Gatos cemetery (from the mid-1850s) is actually located underneath two well-known local businesses on Highway Nine at University Avenue.

“Double-D’s Sports Bar” and “Baker’s Square” restaurant both rest on property formerly designated for the dead more than 150 years ago. Bruce is sure that the bodies of the long dead still remain buried underground just beneath the floor boards of both businesses!

“Baker’s Square” management are good-natured enough about the discovery to actually host the Halloween cemetery tour and have donated several pumpkin pies for the event.

Along with old cemetery history, Bruce says she plans to uncover historic rituals and common superstitions having to do with the dead during the upcoming tour. That’s one reason she insists that only adults participate.
She has taken schoolchildren on informative cemetery tours in the past, but geared the information to their age group and sensibilities.

Bruce is also sensitive to local families whose loved ones are buried next to historical figures. She says the tour is meant only as an informative alternative to the usual taken on Halloween, and she is very careful not to include anyone who passed away less than 70 years ago.

Bruce became interested in tracking down other people’s ancestors when she met her future husband. On their first date, they made an instant bet about whether or not she could prove or disprove his family’s possible connection to King Bruce of Scotland, also known as “Braveheart” (made famous in the Academy-Award winning film starring Mel Gibson).

So far, she says, she has not been able to make or break a historical connection, but her husband and children’s ancestors do come close geographically through documented ownership of several Scottish land grants made by the rouge king long, long ago under the name of “Bruce.”

Los Gatos Memorial Park is located at 2255 Los Gatos-Almaden Road in Los Gatos.
Space is limited and reservations are required for the “Cemetery Tour by Flashlight.” You must be over 18 to take the tour, but 16 and 17 year olds will be permitted, if accompanied by an adult. Refreshments will be served starting at 7:30 p.m. just beforehand. Flashlights will be provided. Tickets are $15 each and can be purchased by calling (408) 323-5333.