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TOM (MY BOSS) ELDRIDGE

Tom has been inducted into the California Powerlifting Hall of Fame.

Tom entered my life in 1980 to teach me how to powerlift so I could be competitive in open competition and the Police Olympics. With his knowledge, motivation and inspiration from being a top lifter and his involvement in the Fireman Olympics in California, in which he introduced the sport to the event, he soon became my trainer and coach. Side by side we became workout partners and an "unbeatable team", working our way up to numerous records from local level to state to national, with myself attaining a world record in the bench. It wasn't too long before Boss formed our team, TOP GUN, of almost eighty lifters from all parts of the country. TOP GUN was never defeated in any meet or national championship we competed in throughout the USA for over five years. TOP GUN was retired in 1991.

From my Boss's accomplishments in sports and as a Los Angeles County Assistant Fire Chief working out of Station 73 in Santa Clarita Valley, CA, I learned perseverance. You don't quit. You go after what you want and get it. So I did. I went after the Boss and got him. Yeehaw! We drove to Las Vegas on July 8, 1988 in our 1988 Corvette and got married in our powerlifting outfits, a day I will never forget. In May 1989 at the Pan Am Game in Canada, where Boss was coaching our U.S. team to victory, my dreams and my future life with him fell apart. He was told the day before we flew out of LAX that he had cancer in his lungs and vocal cords. After a courageous battle with the disease that ended up in his brain, Boss went spiritual on my birthday in 1991. Our love is eternal soulmate love and we shall be together again, ahuh. Thank you Lord.

Tom Wendell Eldridge was born in Insull, KY on August 14, 1934. His parents were John Howard Eldridge and Mary Magdalena (McGeorge) Eldridge. He has a brother, John, and two sisters, Jackie and Pauline. From his first two wives, he has five children (one deceased) and numerous grand children spread from coast to coast. 'Boss' first joined San Marino Fire Department, CA, then went to L.A. Co. Fire Department. When he passed on, he was working out of Battalion 6, Station 73 in Newhall, CA as an Assistant Fire Chief.

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