JOSEPH P. ELDRIDGE

1929 - 2019

ELDRIDGE, Joseph P. Age 90, of Ashburnham and formerly of Newton, died on September 11, 2019, at Heywood Hospital in Gardner. He was most recently a resident at Heywood Wakefield Commons Assisted Living and Gardner Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

Joe was born in Boston on January 1, 1929, a son of the late Albert and Agnes (Carr) Eldridge. Over the course of his working life, he was a shipyard worker, a machinist for Jarrell Ash Company, a construction laborer for JF White Contracting, a professional photographer, and a carpenter at Wellesley Corporation and Bentley University, before retiring in 2004 at the age of seventy-five.

Besides his employment, Joe was a Captain in the Cambridge Auxiliary Fire Department, volunteered at the Boston Fire Museum and helped to restore the USS Cassin Young, a destroyer anchored in Boston Harbor. Joe had many hobbies and kept active throughout his life. He skied until age eighty-six at Wachusett Mountain, owned a sailboat, was a member of the Boston Sparks and the Fifth Massachusetts Battery, a Civil War re-enactment group. He loved to travel, hunt, and fish; cheer on Patriot, Texas A&M, Cal, and Auburn football; and spend time with his beloved family and cherished friends.

Joe leaves his daughter, Rosemarie Eldridge Meissner, and her husband, Walt Meissner, of Ashburnham; two granddaughters and one great-granddaughter, Rebecca (Meissner) Carr, her husband, John, and their daughter, Katherine, of Nevada City, California; and Erica Meissner of Alexandria, Virginia. He also leaves a sister, Barbara Wingo, of Florida and many nieces and nephews. Joe was predeceased by his wife, Josephine (Szylkonis); his brothers, Albert, William, and Leonard; and his stepmother, Anne.

We will miss our father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, and brother for his love and kindness.

Funeral Services will be held privately. Brandon Funeral Home, 305 Wanoosnoc Rd., FITCHBURG, is assisting the family.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Joslin Diabetes Center, One Joslin Pl, Boston, MA 02215.