Donald Eldridge

Donald Francis Eldridge of Atherton, CA passed away peacefully while celebrating the holidays in Arizona with wife Barbara and family. A loving husband, father, son, brother, grandfather and great-grandfather, Don was kind, compassionate, generous, playful and good-natured. He was well-loved by all and we will miss him deeply. Born in Passaic, NJ on to Robert Walker Eldridge and Dorothy Daggett Eldridge, Don lived a full and happy life as a sailor and world explorer, successful entrepreneur, humanitarian and gourmand. He relished the memories of his childhood summers spent bayside at the family vacation spot in Jamestown, RI, where his love for the water and sailing first began. He owned several boats throughout his life, and in his true “joie de vivre” style, named them all "cheers" in one language or another. He sailed all over the world and twice completed the San Francisco to Hawaii single-handed Trans Pac. He was truly happy while out on the water. One of his favorite places to sail was Donner Lake, where he designed and had built a lakeside family vacation home. There he found peace and joy being in the mountains and gathering with the family for summer and winter fun. An avid traveler with a long list of places he wanted to experience, Don relished the fact that he had been nearly everywhere in the world. His adventurous spirit began as a teenager, when he rode his bicycle from New Jersey to Jamestown in just two days and later hitchhiked to Florida and hopped a plane to Cuba just to see what he could see. Once he met success in business, Don continued to explore and be fascinated by our beautiful planet. A few favorites included climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Fuji, visiting every continent including the Arctic and Antartica, and traveling around the world twice. He especially loved London and spent many enjoyable times there. Many of these adventures were shared with his wife Barbara, whom he met in the 1980s. The two of them shared a passion for travel and adventure and continued to experience all that life had to offer during their more than 30 happy years together. The two also loved arts and culture and frequented the area’s museums and theaters and the San Francisco Ballet and Symphony. Don met his business success as an entrepreneur. He graduated from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania as an Electrical Engineer after only three years of study. He moved to Seattle, WA to take a job with Boeing, where he worked on noise reduction technology. In the early 1960s, he moved to Ampex in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he offered ideas that were 20 years ahead of their time. His greatest success was starting his own company, Memorex, with three partners. Originally a magnetic tape manufacturer and one of the area’s first computer-related start-ups, Memorex became a household name. Don also founded International Video Corporation before retiring early to pursue his travels and devote himself to his philanthropy. Don worked with several human rights groups and was proud of his work with Amnesty International. He also created the Eldridge Foundation, which devoted its work to promoting various social justice causes. He had a strong spiritual side, studying with several spiritual teachers around the globe. He had a great ability to let things just be, to accept, to let go, and to give. He found spirituality in the natural world as well and remained awed by its many wonders. Don was a great inspiration to all of his children. Don is survived by his loving wife Barbara Tener; sons Dean Eldridge, Guy Robert Eldridge, Mark Eldridge and Michael Warnick; daughters Carol Eldridge, Katherine Schermerhorn, Marcia Eldridge and Nancy Roger; 12 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and sister Phyllis Suber. He was predeceased by his second wife Marian Eldridge, daughter Sharon Eldridge and sister Ruth Clarke.