John W. Eldridge, 1942

Our brothers careers have been productive, constructive, spirited, and prosaic. They displayed impressive skills, talents, and abilities They were, and we continue to be, a beautiful and lively expression of our enduring fraternal beliefs, and that underlying harmony is far-reaching in expectation for all brothers’, undergraduate and graduate. It is the core of what our fraternal founders asserted in 1848 and 1874 and 1899: to live active, commendable, and responsible lives, and to build up community. Clearly and compellingly, they added, and continue to add, positive value at the local, state, national, global, and fraternal level because they engaged life fully and responsibly. In short, they were authoritative pillars throughout life. They were-are exemplary in their citizenship, character, and their sense of dutiful responsibility, and, in many instances, they were leading voices in their career fields. They prove that success of any kind does not occur by luck or accident, and we remember them because they continue to provide that message for our time. Their spirit permeates our brotherhood, and it always will. 

We have long been, from one generation to the next, proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. We continue to cherish our fraternal friendships, our shared memories, and our evolving, forward-focused history at the University of Maine. These things, above and beyond everything else, are the underlying rooted connections that make us proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. Why, after all, should we believe otherwise? We have always exhibited a can-do fraternal spirit since 1874. We have achieved solid accomplishments in a broad range of academic disciplines, in athletics, in the arts, in journalism, and in many other co-curricular activities at the University of Maine since our fraternal beginning. And it seems obvious, of course, based off or 150 year history at Maine, that the present generation of Omega Mu undergraduates, as well as all future generations of Omega Mu Fijis, will continue to do the same, with enthusiasm and commitment. As a brotherhood, we always see the path behind us and the way forward with equal clarity, and our future remains bright at 79 College Avenue because we fearlessly move forward, always guided by sound fraternal principles. Perge.

Omega Mu Portrait
John W. Eldridge,
1942

Omega Mu Years

Omega Mu Housemother,
Mrs. Vickers

Watie Akin's Orchestra

"Lou Paul and his orchestra playing"

John W. Eldridge was a musician in the University of Maine Band 

1940
Snow Sculpture

Dudley Utterback, engineer of the winning
​bear snow sculpture.

1941
Snow Sculpture

"Phi Gam's snow last week was probably the most beautiful this university has ever seen."

"Of course, its connection with the carnival was pretty remote. But if barred from first place for that reason, why was it given any mention? Because it was too good to ignore."

"Too good to ignore."

Dudley Utterback designed our 1941
​snow sculpture.

After earning his M.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering from Syracuse University and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. John W. Eldridge taught at the University of Virginia.

After teaching for many years at the University of Virginia, John W. Eldridge left UVa to become the Head of the Department o Chemical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

“What if the space be long and wide,
That parts us from our brother’s side
A soul-joined chain unites our band,
And memory links us hand in hand.”
(Phi Gamma Delta fraternity song)

​Fraternally,
Chip Chapman, ’82
Perge