H. Newcomb Eldredge - 10th Mountain veteran and ski-museum director

10th Mountain Division veteran H. Newcomb “Newc” Eldredge died on July 9, 2015. Born in Baltimore, Maryland on August 4, 1924, he spent his early years in Pittsford, New York. He attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana, then joined the 10th Mountain Division in 1944. Following training at Camp Hale, Colorado and Camp Swift, Texas, the 10th was deployed to Italy in late 1944. Newc was awarded two Bronze Stars for his part in the capture of two enemy machine gun positions during a battle on Mount Belvedere in February 1945. 

He enrolled in Dartmouth after the war, and became active with the ski team, the mountaineering club, and served as Winter Sports Division chairman. Shortly after graduation in 1950, Newc married Sally McCrillis, daughter of John W. McCrillis, whose film of a Dartmouth race on Mount Moosilauke convinced the National Ski Association to sanction downhill racing in 1933. Newc and Sally moved to Denver, where he was introduced to the insurance business by fellow 10th veteran Earl Clark. 

Moving to Newport, New Hampshire in 1957, Newc joined John McCrillis in his insurance agency; he retired in 1995. He was a mainstay of the New England Chapter of the 10th Mountain Division Association and served on the board of the New England Ski Museum for several decades. He is survived by Sally, his sister Martha (Marti) Seeber, sons Christopher and John and daughter Sandra. —Jeff Leich