Longtime Los Gatos journalist Dick Sparrer died Saturday, according to family members, after a long illness. He was 72.
He worked in newspapers for 45 years before retiring at the end of 2016 after 15 years as the Los Gatos Weekly-Times’ editor.
“It seems like only yesterday when I was walking across the front lawn at Los Gatos High School during graduation ceremonies, my diploma in hand and my whole life in front of me,” the 1967 LGHS graduate wrote in his final column. “The next 50 years really went by in a blur.”
Sparrer occasionally wrote humorous columns in tight prose and self-deprecating style touching on subjects such as growing up on a tv diet of “Sky King, Howdy Doody and The Lone Ranger,” the size and contents of his wife’s handbag, being mistaken in 2008 for presidential candidate John McCain and a dog named Curly. The columns were recognized with awards in statewide journalism competitions.
He entered the field when John Baggerly “gave me the chance to get my first story printed in the old Los Gatos Times Observer—a real newspaper,” he added.
He attended Fisher Middle School in Los Gatos, where he first took an interest in writing about sports and, after graduating from Los Gatos High, attended West Valley College, where he became sports editor of the college’s newspaper.
In the 1970s, he became a sports writer for the Milpitas Post, and later the Times Observer. He also coached youth baseball for 20 years.
He served as sports editor for the Los Gatos Weekly-Times and its sister community weeklies during Silicon Valley Community Newspapers’ ownership by Metro Newspapers, now known as Weeklys and the owner of the Los Gatan. He left more than a decade after the Weekly-Times’ purchase by the owners of the San Jose Mercury News.
Early during SVCN’s four intervening years as an independent group, Executive Editor Dale Bryant tapped Sparrer to become editor of the Weekly-Times.
“When I became executive editor of Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, I needed to find an editor for Los Gatos and also our Saratoga paper, which I had added to my job description,” Bryant said.
“It turned out to be a big challenge—until Dick called one day and asked me to go to lunch. He not only said he’d love to edit the papers, but he wanted to continue doing sports. He did all of those jobs admirably.”
“He loved the town, and he loved young people and their sports activities,” Bryant said.
In 2008, Sparrer was honored as grand marshall of the Los Gatos Children’s Christmas Holidays Parade.
Former Los Gatos High School football coach Butch Cattolico posted a tribute on Sunday. “He was a great person, writer, coach, father and grandfather. He was an original member of the Los Gatos High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee. But most of all he was a friend. Not just to me, but to all the people, especially the athletes of Los Gatos High School,” Cattolico wrote. “We have all lost a great advocate for the youth and the town of Los Gatos.”
Sparrer, who lived in Morgan Hill during his retirement, is survived by his wife Natalie, sons Mike and Kevin, two granddaughters, stepdaughters Lisa, Michelle and Kim, stepson Doug and 13 step-grandchildren.
