Lt. Scott "Harv" Waldinger '86
January 22, 1992, Brother Lt. Scott "Harv" Waldinger '86 was navigating a U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat fighter during a night-flight training exercise in a mountainous area of Nevada when his plane experienced "catastrophic hydraulic failure" and crashed. The pilot of the jet was also killed. It is believed that the plane malfunctioned at an altitude that was too low for ejection. Lt. Waldinger flew 43 combat missions as an electronic systems officer aboard a U.S. Navy jet fighter during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Brother Waldinger grew up in Dearborn, Michigan and graduated from Dearborn High School. He earned an Engineering degree from the University of Michigan (U of M) in 1986. During his years at U of M, Brother Waldinger was a very active member of Michigan Alpha. He was an outstanding intramural athlete as well as one of the most well-respected and popular members of the fraternity. Nearly all of his pledge brothers attended his memorial service.
In coelo quies est Brother Waldinger.
Harv was a great Phi Delt and an all-around amazing person. We met as pledges in Trou’s Tremendous Ten. We were roommates our Junior year in Room 6 along with Rob Wildermuth. Our Senior year, we were roommates in an apartment on Church Street across from the Physics building with Tom Monroe and Jeff Klein. He was my best man when I married Rita in 1987. I’ll never forget the day he joined the Navy and the day I heard his F-14 crashed. I named my second son after him. God bless you, Scott.
Posted by: Jim Barger | January 22, 2022 at 12:51 PM