Stro

[Drunk Monk]

My sister did a portrait of a fencing teacher when she was at De Anza. For some reason I thought it was Stro, but it was probably De Cesare who taught a Sunnyvale parks & rec class.

Dm taught fencing at De Anza for a while. It was under Elmer Gates, who was a PE teacher there and really knew very little about fencing. He was the official fencing teacher, but he would get dm enrolled in the class and dm would teach. dm did that for a few quarters - don't really remember how long. It wasn't a paid position but Elmer would always arrange for some sort of gift at the end of the session. It was a nice plastron once. He was a sweet man. Dm got a lot of experience teaching out of the deal, although it was sort of under the table, so it wasn't something that he could really add to his resume. Dm also had his first and only affair with a student through that. Strange memories. 

I just looked Elmer up out of curiosity and found his obit.

Elmer Curtis Gates
1931 - 2014

Elmer Curtis Gates
Resident of San Diego
Elmer Curtis Gates was a long time resident of Saratoga, California. He passed away June 6th 2014 in San Diego, California.
Born in Indiana Sept. 5th 1931. He graduated from his beloved Indiana University. He went on to get a maters at I.U.
He headed for better weather and got a job teaching, coaching, and as the first paid trainer for San Diego State. While at San Diego State he meet his wife Gwen Burke. They along with her daughter Debe moved to the bay area. He taught one year at Foothills college. He got a job at the new De Anza College. He taught and coached there for 26 years and retired in 1992.
Elmer and Gwen move to San Diego, California to live with their daughter Debe and son in law Ed Finch. Elmer loved the beauty of San Diego got in touch with many of his old friends.
Elmer loved teaching and coaching. He was a gymnast in his college days. He loved most sports and never missed a game on TV. He followed the IU teams all his life. He was one of their biggest fans. He loved people and was a people person, one of the nicest men you would ever meet.
He had a large extended family in Indiana. He always kept in touch with them. In fact, he still was in touch with kids all the way back to grade school.
Gwen passed away in 2011. Elmer is survived by his daughter Debe Finch, son in law Ed Finch, their three children Jena Johnson, Jason Finch, Sarah Sachs, and their spouses and four great-grandchildren, Mary Chalko his sister, Oscar Gates his brother, Tom Gates his brother, and their families.
He will be forever missed. We were blessed to have him in our lives.
He was laid to rest June 21 at Singing Hills Memorial Park in El Cajon, California. A celebration of life will be held September 6th at Los Gatos Lodge in Los Gatos, California at 2:00 p.m.

To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Published in San Jose Mercury News/San Mateo County Times on Aug. 31, 2014.