Day 2
12/07/23 22:23
June 29, 2023—
Post Two:
Once the family moved to West Road, Rhoda attended school from third grade to half-way through sixth grade on Austin Way. That one-room school house very near her home was closed during her sixth grade year, so Rhoda and her small contingent of fellow students were then moved to Saratoga School on Oak Street . Rhoda and most of her friends went on to Los Gatos High School and graduated from there in 1935. After high school, she attended San Jose State College for two years.
At the age of 11, at about the time that Rhoda had been moved to Saratoga School, her parents divorced. She found great companionship and friendship with many of her classmates during those traumatic years. Several of her school “chums” ended up being friends for life. Two of those close friends eventually became well-known movie stars, the sisters Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine.
At the end of her two years at San Jose State, in the midst of the Great Depression, Rhoda experienced a course change in her life. Her mother told her that, as a single parent, she could no longer afford to pay the fees at the State College for her. Instead, Rhoda chose to go to work in San Francisco, living in the City for several years. After work, she would return every Friday to Los Gatos by train. Yes, in those days, the Friday afternoon train from San Francisco left at 5:30 p.m. and went all of the way to downtown Los Gatos near where the present-day Post Office is now located.
Later, as things got even worse economically during the Depression, Rhoda’s mother Issy rented out the family home in Los Gatos in order to make ends meet. She moved in with both of her daughters to a cottage located on the Filbert Steps on Telegraph Hill.
The eighth grade graduating class at Saratoga Grammar School, 1931. Rhoda (Bensberg) Porter is in the first row, third from right. Next to Rhoda on her left sits her close friend Joan Fontaine, second from right. Those who are from Saratoga may remember Louise (Garrod) Cooper. Louise was a life-long friend of Rhoda's. She is standing in the top row, the second from the right. Several longtime friends are also shown in the 8th grade photo below.
Rhoda (left) standing next to Joan Fontaine's sister Olivia De Havilland (who was one year older than Rhoda's classmate Joan)— in the patio of her home on Cañon Drive in Los Gatos, (76 years later than the eighth grade photo), when Rhoda was 89 and Olivia was 90
Post Two:
Once the family moved to West Road, Rhoda attended school from third grade to half-way through sixth grade on Austin Way. That one-room school house very near her home was closed during her sixth grade year, so Rhoda and her small contingent of fellow students were then moved to Saratoga School on Oak Street . Rhoda and most of her friends went on to Los Gatos High School and graduated from there in 1935. After high school, she attended San Jose State College for two years.
At the age of 11, at about the time that Rhoda had been moved to Saratoga School, her parents divorced. She found great companionship and friendship with many of her classmates during those traumatic years. Several of her school “chums” ended up being friends for life. Two of those close friends eventually became well-known movie stars, the sisters Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine.
At the end of her two years at San Jose State, in the midst of the Great Depression, Rhoda experienced a course change in her life. Her mother told her that, as a single parent, she could no longer afford to pay the fees at the State College for her. Instead, Rhoda chose to go to work in San Francisco, living in the City for several years. After work, she would return every Friday to Los Gatos by train. Yes, in those days, the Friday afternoon train from San Francisco left at 5:30 p.m. and went all of the way to downtown Los Gatos near where the present-day Post Office is now located.
Later, as things got even worse economically during the Depression, Rhoda’s mother Issy rented out the family home in Los Gatos in order to make ends meet. She moved in with both of her daughters to a cottage located on the Filbert Steps on Telegraph Hill.
The eighth grade graduating class at Saratoga Grammar School, 1931. Rhoda (Bensberg) Porter is in the first row, third from right. Next to Rhoda on her left sits her close friend Joan Fontaine, second from right. Those who are from Saratoga may remember Louise (Garrod) Cooper. Louise was a life-long friend of Rhoda's. She is standing in the top row, the second from the right. Several longtime friends are also shown in the 8th grade photo below.
Rhoda (left) standing next to Joan Fontaine's sister Olivia De Havilland (who was one year older than Rhoda's classmate Joan)— in the patio of her home on Cañon Drive in Los Gatos, (76 years later than the eighth grade photo), when Rhoda was 89 and Olivia was 90
