Henry Peirce Eldredge

Mr. Eldredge died Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004, at Rhode Island Hospital.

He was born Dec. 4, 1919, in Providence, the son of Charles Child and Marion Gifford Eldredge. He was educated at East Greenwich Academy and Moses Brown School and graduated from Brown University in 1941.

Mr. Eldredge was a lieutenant in the U.S Navy during World War II. He trained pilots in the United States and flew shipments to the North African campaign. Before the war, he flew for Pan American Airlines, where he pioneered the route across Africa to Cairo and Tehran, and then for Northeast Airlines. He returned to Rhode Island in 1946 to work for his father’s heating firm, Charles C. Eldredge Inc., of which he was president from 1956 until his retirement in 1981.

He was trustee of Industrial National Bank, Kent Memorial Hospital and Rocky Hill School. He was a founding member of the East Greenwich Rotary Club, which honored him for his long service. He was a vestryman and treasurer of St. Luke’s Church. He was a founding member of the Academy Players and performed in several early productions. He began competing in sailing regattas on Narragansett Bay as a teenager and was a longtime member of the East Greenwich Yacht Club, where he served as commodore. He also was a member of the Potowomut Golf Club.

He married Priscilla Bateson in 1942. She died earlier.

Survivors include a son, Charles C., Lawrence, Kan.; a daughter, Susan Eldredge, Cambridge, Mass.; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

The family suggests memorials to St. Elizabeth’s Home, 1 St. Elizabeth’s Way, East Greenwich, RI 02818; or Greenwich Bay Sailing Assn., P.O. Box 267, East Greenwich, RI 02818.