Clinton M. Odell
Clinton M. Odell, Alpha Beta, 1901
Clinton M. Odell, Alpha Beta, 1901, Phi Alpha 1949-1950, was one of the founding
members of the Alpha Beta chapter at the University of Minnesota. His two sons, Allen
and Leonard, were also Zetes at the University of Minnesota.
As Phi Alpha, Brother Odell was a strong proponent of the fraternity’s expansion and put a lot of effort into taking the steps needed before Zeta Psi could make progress in that area.
Brother Odell was a highly successful businessman as President of the Burma Vita
Company in Minneapolis. He, his father and two sons were instrumental in freeing
American men from the shaving brush and promoting the brushless Burma Shave product with
roadside signs and advertising jingles known nationwide. In 1963, the company was
sold to Philip Morris.
All his life Brother Odell had been concerned with conservation. He was awarded the plaque of the Minnesota Conservation Commission April 1957 in recognition of his many contributions. In 1952 He founded and became the first President of “The Friends of the Wild Flower Garden,” in Minneapolis, MN, near the Burma-Shave factory.
Article about Br. Odell in the Friends of the Garden newsletter