[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 144 (Friday, November 8, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1979]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO JOSEPHINE WAGNER ELDRIDGE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 8, 2002

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Josephine Wagner Eldridge, a 
beloved mother and grandmother who died on June 9, 2002.
  Josephine Wagner was born in 1917 and was raised in Roanoke, 
Virginia, where she was an outstanding athlete and student. She 
graduated from Duke University School of Nursing in 1940 and worked as 
a nurse at Memorial Baptist Hospital in New Orleans, where she met and 
married Bill Eldridge, a pilot in the Army Air Corps. Following World 
War II they settled in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  Josephine Wagner Eldridge and her husband Bill were long-time members 
of Contra Costa Country Club and founding members of Lafayette-Orinda 
Presbyterian Church. Once their three sons were raised, Josephine 
returned to her passion of painting. Her painting career flourished and 
her works were displayed throughout the region with the Las Juntas 
Artists group and several other art organizations.
  Josephine is survived by her sons Bill and his wife Judy, Steve and 
his wife Sue, Keith and his wife Jan, grandchildren Sheri, Kim, Tommy, 
Teo, Erin, Ryan and Alex, and her great-grandchildren Sydney and 
Jessica.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Josephine 
Wagner Eldridge, for the life she led, for the extraordinary family she 
raised and for her contributions to the community and the country she 
loved.

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