Thriving Legacy: Who's on the New Mural at the Senior Center?

Need a local history lesson? Milpitas Patch asked 40-year residents Robert and Harriet McGuire to tell us about the individuals on the mural, many of whom they knew personally. See how many you know.

1. Dr. Albert Currlin. Milpitas' first doctor who delivered many of the local townspeople when they were babies. He had an office on Main Street.
2. Al Augustine. One of the main leaders in the African-American community. He served in the U.S. Air Force stationed in South Carolina at Donaldson Air Force Base in Greenville, SC, at the same time as Robert McGuire. He came to Milpitas as an employee at the Ford plant. 
3. Jimmy Rodgers. Mayor and city councilman. His father, Ben Rodgers, was the first postmaster of Milpitas. 
4. Dick Delong. Milpitas' second city manager and longest running city manager. He served from 1963 to 1974.
5. Leo Murphy. An assistant superintendent at Milpitas Union School District who worked his way up from as a teacher in Eastside school district and later principal of Ayer High School. He lived in San Jose, and his wife worked at Santa Clara University. The gym at the Milpitas Sports Center is named after him.
6. Bob Cracolice. Son of Sal Cracolice, part of a long-time family in town with businesses and properties on Main Street. He no longer lives in Milpitas. Bob ran a small department store in the building now occupied by An-Jan Feed & Pet Supply.
7. Oliver Jones. Robert McGuire said, "I only knew him through the Sunnyhills Methodist Church Sunday-morning breakfasts." Jones was active in the Sunnyhills area, which was considered the African-American area in town. When Ford moved to Milpitas, the union got together with builders and built the Sunnyhills area, which provided housing for Ford workers who came from Richmond
8. Barbara Lee. Vice mayor and city councilwoman for many years; involved in many activities. The senior center is named after her.
9. Haskell "Jack" Goodman. After Milpitas fought off San Jose to become its own city, Goodman was hired as the first city attorney. 
10. Sal Cracolice. The first pharmacist in town. He had a pharmacy on Main Street next to An Jan in the Olingers' real estate retail center. "He was a heavy-duty guy and a sweet lovable person who didn't push his weight around," said Robert McGuire. The Sal Cracolice building came about, because he convinced the Ford plant, which was getting rid of some of its portable buildings, to move one over to South Abel Street.
11. Ben Gross. First African-American mayor of the United States. He appeared on the cover of Life Magazine with Milpitas resident, Cathy Cardoza, Frontier queen, said Harriet McGuire. They were on a Ferris wheel going around. Back in the day, Milpitas had a week of events leading up to the Frontier Day Festival.
12. Tom Evatt. The first mayor of Milpitas.
13. Jim Murray. The police chief, who also acted as interim city manager. He taught police classes at San Jose State and was invited to China to teach. 
14. Ernestina Garcia.
15. Josephine Guerrero. Assistant postmaster who worked with the first postmaster of Milpitas, Ben Rodgers. She not only served as a city planning commissioner but as president of the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce from 1975-76.
16. Mabel Mattos. Longtime Milpitas resident. She still lives in Milpitas and is a bundle of energy in her 80s, said McGuire. She knows everybody and everything.
17. Bob Browne. Mayor and city councilman. He played the banjo, said McGuire. He liked to be in little theatre shows, which were staged in City Council Chambers. He died recently, and a corner of the park on Yellowstone and Park Victoria was dedicated to him, one block from where he used to live in Parktown.
18. Joe House. City councilman and mayor when the Milpitas Monster movie was being made, so he got to be in the movie, said McGuire.House was a teacher at Ayer High School, where he was active in the speech contest. 
19. Mort Levine. Founders and former publisher of the Milpitas Post, along with his wife, Elaine. They sold the paper to Media News, parent company of the San Jose Mercury News and other papers in the Bay Area.
20. Elaine Levine. The Levines had a network of community newspapers that they ran and eventually sold. They were journalism majors who met in college in Wisconsin. They were looking for a place to start a newspaper. Milpitas at the time was having issues with San Jose and wanted to become an independent city. So that's why they moved out here.

Harriet McGuire is a city public art commissioner and Milpitas Historical Society vice president. Her husband, Robert McGuire, served as the city's parks and recreation director from 1964-82. They continue to live in Milpitas.