Richard Leete Eldridge

Eldridge—Richard Leete Eldridge, 85, on October 3, 2025. Rich was born on June 8, 1940. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in Ohio, a master’s in education from Cornell University in New York, and a doctorate in American literature at the University of Maryland.

Rich became a Friend in Baltimore, Md., when he and his family joined Stony Run Meeting. His first position in Friends education was as a trustee of Baltimore Friends School, where he and his former spouse, Lucy, enrolled their two children, David and Susan.

Rich remained active in Friends education as his work moved his family up the Mid-Atlantic coast. He served as head of school for Buckingham Friends School in Lahaska, Pa.; Friends Seminary in New York City; and the Willow School in Peapack-Gladstone, N.J. He held multiple positions at the Community College of Baltimore County, including Harbor Campus director of operations, assistant dean of faculty in the Division of Humanities, and English professor. He taught English at Seisen University in Tokyo, Japan, during the 1965-1966 school year.

Rich served on numerous boards, including Friends Academy in Locust Valley, N.Y. (where he also served as interim head of school for one year); Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Pennswood Village in Newtown, Pa.; and Friends Publishing Corporation, publisher of Friends Journal, from 1989–1996, including service as clerk of the board. He was very active in Friends Council on Education.

Rich’s study of American literature led him to research Jean Toomer, a writer of the Harlem Renaissance. Toomer later became a member of Buckingham Meeting. When Rich and his family moved to Bucks County, Pa., they became members of Doylestown Meeting.

Rich was a prolific writer in multiple genres. The book he coauthored with Cynthia Earl Kerman, The Lives of Jean Toomer: A Hunger for Wholeness (1987), was considered for a Pulitzer Prize. His publications also include articles, stories, and poems. Rich scripted an operetta about Gabriel Prosser’s 1800 rebellion against slavery and seven musicals that were performed at Buckingham Friends School. The first of these, The Frog Prince, was reprised at Friends Seminary.

After retiring from the Willow School at the age of 65, Rich became an adjunct professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., where he taught remedial writing and grammar to incoming first-year students. He also served as a consultant to the Hudson School in Hoboken, N.J., and Westbury Friends School in Westbury, N.Y., as they prepared for new leadership.

After suffering a stroke in January 2009, Rich continued to make an impact on the lives of those around him. He served as a volunteer for the Westchester Martin Luther King Jr. Institute for Nonviolence, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Library, both in White Plains, N.Y., where he curated new books on social justice, equity, and inclusion for the library’s collection.

Friends describe Rich as kind, thoughtful, and quick to laugh. He cared for his family, his students, his colleagues, and justice in education and throughout humankind. Rich believed that everyone is a teacher and can be a lifelong learner, and that formal education, which is not available to everyone, does not determine an individual’s value.

Rich is survived by his wife of 26 years, Rosaria (Roe) Golden; two stepchildren, Ria and Nora; former spouse, Lucy; two children, David (Lisa) and Susan (Seward); five grandchildren; one sister, Muriel; one niece and one nephew; and one grandniece and two grandnephews.