A lifetime of service ends in solitude and despair

Edward William Eldridge Jr. took his own life at the age of 62.

He lived alone in a small semidetached, red-brick house on Daywalt Avenue in Northeast Baltimore. He had no wife, no known children, no brothers, no sisters, and his parents died years ago. He listed his only aunt as a beneficiary, but she, too, had passed away.He had no friends, at least none close enough or willing enough to stay with him at the hospital for a few hours so he could undergo the arthroscopic knee surgery he was scheduled to have on the day he died. He had nobody he could talk to or who could help him when he lost $100,000 of his retirement savings to the faltering stock market.

Now Eldridge's body lies at Ruck Funeral Home in Towson - a viewing is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow, memorial service at 11 a.m. Wednesday - his earthly remains saved from becoming a ward of the state and from a pauper's grave by the Baltimore homicide detective who got the case, went to the house and recognized the dead man as a colleague and an old acquaintance. He had "shot the breeze" with Eldridge years ago when the detective walked a foot post and the now-dead officer was the Police Department's Central District wagon man.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-eldridge,0,4870875.story?page=1

RIP Mr. Edward William Eldridge Jr.
...........

Very kind of the Detective Randy Wynn. Hope the dispatch operator is doing okay.

That is sad. Sounds like this guy had some kind of syndrome or other with the lists, record keeping and isolation.

STEADFAST said:

That is sad. Sounds like this guy had some kind of syndrome or other with the lists, record keeping and isolation.

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That's strange. My father used to do the same thing. After he committed suicide we found all these notebooks where he had recorded everything, right down to a few dollars he might spend at the general store.

RIP Mr. Eldridge.

Thanks Capoly-:blowkiss:

This is an excellent reminder in our busy lives to take note of those who live a round us, and to reach out to them on occasion, even if it is just with a few pleasantries now and again...I guess we won't ever know if he felt his life was lonely or if it worked for him.

believe09 said:

Thanks Capoly-:blowkiss:

This is an excellent reminder in our busy lives to take note of those who live a round us, and to reach out to them on occasion, even if it is just with a few pleasantries now and again...I guess we won't ever know if he felt his life was lonely or if it worked for him.

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RIP Dear Man. So sorry you were so lonely. I wish I was there to reach out to you.

One should reach out more to others. We never know what is going on in their lives and what makes them so lonely or why they are forced to be that way. My heart was bleeding when I read this story.


Gozgals

Bless his heart. That detective seems like a great guy.

RIP Mr Eldridge.

Bless you Detective Wynn.

This story breaks my heart.

Gozgals said:

RIP Dear Man. So sorry you were so lonely. I wish I was there to reach out to you.

One should reach out more to others. We never know what is going on in their lives and what makes them so lonely or why they are forced to be that way. My heart was bleeding when I read this story.


Gozgals

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[my bold]

Felt the same way, Gozgals.

Edward William Eldridge, Jr
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSmid=46629972&GRid=33685063&

Guest Book
http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookID=5248573967275

Don't know why the article in first post was written so late as the dear man was buried in February.

lizzybeth said:

That's strange. My father used to do the same thing. After he committed suicide we found all these notebooks where he had recorded everything, right down to a few dollars he might spend at the general store.

RIP Mr. Eldridge.

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sorry for your loss LizzyBeth. Did your dad have a form of OCD? I'm so sorry for you. :blowkiss:

Thanks PattyCake. The similarities between this man and my dad are eerie. My dad was a giver. He helped everyone in his family, extended family, friends that he could. I sometimes wonder if people like that just feel like they have nothing else to give, so they see themselves as worthless.

The only OCD characteristics that my dad showed were the writing down of everything. He also horded (old receipts for items that might have cost five dollars, old electronic equipment that he knew would never work again, etc). Hording isn't always bad. When cleaning out his old Army Air Corp. foot locker I found a picture I had drawn for him in elementary school. That he had saved it (even though he saved EVERYTHING) meant the world to me.

It sounds like to me that this man felt his purpose in life was to help others. When he no longer could, and had no one he felt could help him, he decided to end it all. So sad. I wish he had met that detective before he decided to do what he did. I bet he could have found him some help.

What a sad story. It does sound like he may have been ocd with all the lists he kept, then becoming more isolated when he moved to care for his mother. My dh had the surgery he was scheduled for last year and you do need someone there with you that first 24 hours at least! Even with everything going well for him he needed my help (hard for a big tough man to admit to) I'm thinking he could have sunk into a depression also because of all the money he'd lost also, poor man!
I wish he had talked to his Dr about how no one would be there with him, the Dr could have seen that he was kept in hospital for 23 hours, as long as it's not 24 hours it can still be considered outpatient, I had to do this once when I had surgery on my arm and would not have anyone with me to drive me home.

VB