Longtime Sitkan Ward Marshall Eldridge passed away quietly at home of natural causes on June 20, 2016.
Ward Marshall Eldridge
Ward was born April 2, 1943, in Hartford, Conn., to Paul and Ruth (Cramer) Eldridge. The Eldridges were an old New England whaling family. Ward learned to love boats and boating at a young age with his father and grandfather.
He came to Alaska in 1968 as a college student seeking a summer adventure, and he quickly fell in love with the land and people of northern Alaska. He stayed in Alaska to continue his education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, but he had found his true niche that first summer fixing equipment and making things work at Camp Denali.
He met his first wife, Shelley Rogers, and they moved to Juneau where their daughter Cinead was born. Ward left a job with the City of Juneau to pursue a fishing career, and after their marriage ended, he moved to Sitka in 1973. He longlined and hand-trolled the F/V Shelley Cinead and the F/V Her Highness.
In 1979 while visiting his parents in Jacksonville, Fla., Ward came upon the S/V Merlin, a derelict wooden schooner, built in 1888 to a Herreschoff design. He spent the next six years rebuilding the schooner from the keel up, at first returning to Alaska in the summer to fish, then working full-time on the Merlin. During those years he married Hope Lynn, and when the boat was finally finished, Ward, Hope, and her son Jason Hermann sailed the boat to the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, and out to Hawaii. They sailed into Sitka in 1988, as the Merlin turned 100 years old.
The Merlin became part of the scene at Crescent Harbor, and Sitka once again became home. Ward turned the shipwright skills that he had developed into a new career. As he grew older, he shifted the focus of Merlin Marine to marine electrical systems and other types of marine maintenance and repair.
The highlight of every summer was a cruise on Merlin exploring Southeast Alaska. In 1999, he was anchored in Still Harbor, Whale Bay, south of Sitka, and returned from a brief kayak paddle to find the boat had been sunk by a whale.
The desire to raise the historic schooner led to the formation of the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society, with the dream of turning the boat into a teaching vessel and museum. The newly formed society coordinated a community effort that successfully raised the Merlin. The discovery of humpback whale baleen in the hole in the hull corroborated the theory that the boat was sunk by a whale.
Ward will be remembered for his love of boats, the ocean, and the Alaskan wilderness. He was always ready to share his technical skills and his knowledge of the waterways and navigation. He mentored many young fishermen and women, teaching everything from basic skills such as use of a crescent wrench, to aligning engines. He was active in the community, serving on the boards of Youth Advocates, the Sitka Conservation Society, and the Sitka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
He is survived by his daughter Cinead and son-in-law Eric Kubiak plus two grandchildren, of Salt Lake City; stepson Jason Hermann and family, of Orlando; sister Dale Eldridge Kaye and Ted Kaye of Pleasanton, Calif.; sister-in-law Sheryl Eldridge of Seal Rock, Ore.; nephews and nieces Eric Edelberg, Mark Eldridge, Jeffrey Rhea, and Rachel Rhea; former wives Shelley Thissen, Hope Lynn and Kathy Kyle; and many friends.
He was preceded in death by his brother Peter Eldridge and his parents Paul and Ruth Eldridge.
A celebration of Ward’s life will be held on Saturday, Aug. 27, at the main shelter at Halibut Point Recreation Area. A potluck picnic will begin at 1 p.m., followed by an informal memorial, followed by Ward’s favorite desserts. Participants are invited to bring stories and music to share and a dish for the potluck.
