PHILLIPS – Continuing a life of activity and health, a Phillips native is undertaking a 4,300-mile cross-country bicycle trek this summer to raise money for a scholarship fund at the University of Maine.

Gerald Ellis, 66, of Bangor grew up in Phillips and Rangeley and competed in sports at Phillips High School along with his brothers, Rex and Lyn, said his sister, Nancy Morgan of Phillips.

Gerald Ellis was state champion in cross-country for a couple of years and placed third in the state competition the other years.

He left Phillips to go to the University of Maine in Orono. After completing a tour of duty in Vietnam, he went on to work at the university. He completed his career serving as director of the University of Maine College Success Programs with more than 33 years of service to the Onward Program.

A scholarship program, the Jerry Ellis Scholarship Fund, was created upon his retirement to help students enrolled in the Onward Program at the university, his son, Nick Ellis, said Thursday.

He said his father was doing well, though the first week was tough. “But he’s really active and bikes a lot. He’s run marathons and then got into skiing and biking and cardio activities.”

Ellis and fellow biker John Hwalek, an associate professor of chemical engineering at UM, dipped their bikes into the Pacific Ocean in Anacortes, Wash., on June 18 before starting their trek. They plan to dip their bicycles into the Atlantic Ocean at Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor around Aug. 15.

The two bikers were in Iowa on Thursday and are over halfway through their journey, he said. A Web site, www.umaine.edu/csp/jerrystrek, reported that they had completed 2,597 miles as of Tuesday, when the most recent entry was made.

As the miles increase, so do the donations toward his goal of raising $20,000 for the scholarship. Sixty percent of the total ($12,000) has been raised.

The Onward Program helps lower-income students and students who are first in their families to attend college earn four-year degrees at the University of Maine. It’s one of several programs offered by the college’s Success Programs.