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- Obituary:
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Russell Andrew Eldridge, 80, a builder who restored hundreds of houses in Georgetown and Foggy Bottom and on Capitol Hill, died Saturday at his home on 35th Street NW after a heart attack. Eldridge, who had lived in Georgetown for the last 45 years, was credited with being one of the early restorers of homes in that section of the city, dating from the time when many of the homes there were regarded as slums. He is said to have had a part in building or restoring houses on practically every block of Georgetown. At the time of his death he was still active in his building and restoring work, last working for Georgetown University. According to an associate, Eldridge felt that the peak of his building career was achieved several years ago in the erection of four townhouses in the 3400 block of R Street in Georgetown. Those houses were built on part of the square-block estate purchases by Roger L. Stevens, chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center. In the early 1950s, Eldridge and Graham Lyttle bought and renovated Bell Court, a narrow dead-end street off Volta Place in Georgetown. That project now is called Pomander Walk. A native of Hagerstonw, Md., Eldridge founded the Eldridge Dairy there. He also restored and for many years owned "Rose Hill," one of Maryland's historic homes, near Williamsport. He leaves his wife, the former Virginia de Shazo; a daughter, Lucille Harkless; a sister, Vila Elliott, and a brother, Clarence, both of Hagerstown, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Service will be held at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in Christ Church, 31st and O Streets NW, with burial in Hagerstown.
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