Scott, Claude "Scotty" I., 84, retired Air Capital Advertising owner, passed away Tuesday, June 14, 2011. Memorial service: 1pm, Saturday, June 18, 2011, West Side Baptist Church 304 S. Seneca. Claude is preceded in death by his daughter Linda S. Simmons. Survivors: wife, Elaine; children, H. Delynne Merrill of Davenport, FL., James R. Scott of Lenexa, David M. Scott of Wichita, Richard A. Simmons of Oklahoma City; 17 grandchildren including Marsha Dull and Steven Simmons; 13 great- grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to West Side Baptist Church. Arrangements with Culbertson-Smith Mortuary.
Read more: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/kansas/obituary.aspx?n=claude-i-scott-scotty&pid=151992925&fhid=4882#ixzz1Ps7xmIZD
Saturday, June 19, 2011 as a memorial to my Father who died the 14th of June.
It is an honor to be able to share a bit of my Dad with you today. It is an honor to be his son and to have shared a bit of his life.
My dad bought me my first baseball glove at Western Auto. It was an amazing glove that lasted me for years. It was chosen with care and well practiced with Dad in a short time.
My dad sent me my first bike and I remember taking it to a hill and jumping on. I had no idea how to ride but I knew I was going downhill and I could hold on. I forgot about the clothes line at the bottom of the hill but, no problem, I could duck. Then I hit the fence and went flying over it. I think I was blessed with many of the same gifts as my Father. His determination and will was strong. I picked myself up and rode that bike over and over through many spills.
Dad sent me an article on an interview with God which he called profound and said, "it is about so many things we've been talking about together."
Dad, today we have gathered together to talk about you and your wonderful life. I'd like to lead with excerpts from an interview with God.
"What surprises you most about humankind?"
"That they get bored with childhood. They rush to grow up and then long to be children again."
What I love about my Father is that he always had the capacity be a child. He told me that we need to pay attention to the little boy or little girl in all of us. He would tell me when he felt I needed more of that little boy in me.
God went on to say, "That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health."
Dad spent the time to study out various health cures and tried his best to recover from various long term health problems. Still he did not over do it. He made reasonable choices that fit with his view of life and let go of the results.
God went on to say, "That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future. That they live as if they will never die, and die as if they had never lived."
My dad told me at the end, "I have lived a full life and I am ready to die." It was harder for me to accept than for him. He took it in stride.
In the interview God took his hand and was silent for a while. "What are some of life's lessons you want your children to learn?"
God replied with a smile.
"To learn they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is let themselves be loved."
"To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others."
"To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least."
"To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and it takes many years to heal them."
"To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness."
"To learn that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply do not know how to express or show their feelings."
"To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it all differently."
"To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven by others. But that they must forgive themselves."
"And to learn that I am here always."
I do know that I loved my Father every day of my life and feel blessed to be his child
I learned early in life that I could trust my Father with my life and the lives of others. I watched him pull off the side of the road and pull out people caught in a burning car. He risked his own life to save them. Another time I watched my dad run into a burning house and pull the family out safe and alive in the midst of burning flames. I was a small child, but I knew he was my hero.
The way Dad treated me told me how he felt about me. And life around him, was precious to him. He willingly sacrificed for those around him.
My dad's life gives me the strength to sacrifice for others in life, to move beyond the challenges thrown at me and to accept what comes my way as a blessing.
My dad is a true hero by the way he conducted his life. His integrity and principles survive his death even in my dad's short military career he choose difficult assignments and gave his life for liberty. As a volunteer he helped bag the bodies in Nagasaki after the bomb had dropped which ended the World War II. He suffered a lifetime of physical suffering from radiation, yet, rarely did he complain of any of his complaints.
My Dad taught me what I knew from Oriental Medicine as I worked on him. He helped set me on a path to help the body heal itself from long term chronic problems.
I learned early in life that my Father loved people and loved to work. On the farm I remember the harvesting with a combine machine. Everyone there shared in the efforts of the harvest. I remember being on the tractor as they bailed the hay. My dad lived close to the soil in the early days of his life. He liked to call himself a country boy.
After a long day of work in the country, the relatives gathered to sing and play hymns. On the farm they shared the bounty of the earth and mixed together joy, laughter, fun, singing, and learning.
I think it is a miracle that kids survive to be adults. My dad felt the same way. He always had a special way about working with kids of all ages. He was always the teacher especially in music. I never tired of having him explain how music works. It is as simple as counting on your fingers, he would say.
My dad would say, "The older I get the wiser my parents get". Dad said, "I think my Mother was the wisest person I ever met". Grandmother Scott was a nurse and home midwife to those in the area. She helped many a baby be born. She helped preemies survive by nursing them in a shoe box. She created her own incubator long before it was in common use. Grandmother Scott had her own wisdom of folk medicine. She had her own spirituality -- a strong faith in God. Dad said when she saw him not sharing she would say, "if that toy truck means that much to you, you need to give it away."
My dad said his father had a strange sense of humor, he said once "Son, the last 10 rows of corn are for you to plant, you can keep any profit you make in them." My dad watered those rows like crazy and still they grew poorly, only the hedge beside them grew. Those practical lessons taught him wisdom. His first sales job came from knowing fruits and vegetables. He knew exactly how long they would last & which were best.. He grew the grocery business dramatically. They knew he had no where to go in their family business so they gave him a vital reference which helped him secure a good sales position at another company.
Great grand dad's lessons began to stick with him. My dad became a hard worker on the farm. His chores were farming from another century where plow shares, horses, reaping with a hand reaper were his tools. My dad became a walker on the farm. Why it was 10 miles to the local store. His dad did not hook up the team or ride a horse into the store. He simply turned to his son and said, let's go. They walked ten miles to the store and carried supplies 10 miles back. Dad said his dad's walk was more like running with a long stride.
My dad became a financial manager on the farm. His dad put him in charge of all the figures. He managed the yearly budget and kept all the details. He was amazed at how they could live yearly for less than $200.
My dad became a dreamer on the farm. He imagined how his life could be to be a part of an emerging world with electricity, cars, and modern life. My dad was educated in a one room school house where he absorbed all 12 grades by hearing them in the same room. This gave him time to learn even more on his own. He read all the books in their library.
My dad became a speaker on the farm putting in rows of corn and planting seeds pretending to speak to audiences while he spoke, cracking jokes, introducing people, making great speeches, and imagining a future life of doing the same.
My dad became an athlete on the farm where he would hit rocks with a 2 by 4 and skip them across the water. He increased the number of skips with solid hits.
My dad became a singer on the farm where people came from miles around to give him a ride to hear his clear tenor voice. Amazingly enough, Dad had a wonderful bass voice as well.
My dad had his own music book on the farm as he collected song after song that was popular in his time and gained the skills to play, write, and arrange music. His musical family exposed him to the best in gospel and country.
My dad became quite a competitor in baseball, golf, and bowling. There were many sports we enjoyed with him as children including horse shoes, badminton, and table tennis he was always throwing something with us.
My Dad is a renaissance man. He always pursued multiple facets in life. As an educator he took many classes across many topics, he collected books, and gave back to young and old students.
As an investor he boldly looked across 100 penny stocks, for example, and picked his favorites. He became a savvy investor.
As an entrepreneur he invested in other companies that were failing and helped pull them up into profitability.
As an artist he painted with a large brush and kept re-inventing himself with various styles.
As a musician he learned all the songs of his day and kept learning new material all the days of his life. He tried to play something for everyone who might be in the audience. As a composer he continued to write songs his whole life. He copyright protected them and often helped others to put their songs down on paper. Sometimes he collaborated with putting other's words to song. As a singer he had a high tenor to low bass range. People picked him up to take him to sing. He continued that tradition his whole life.
As a manager he was fair to his employees and worked hard beside them. As a salesman he could sell snow to an Eskimo. He called himself a peddler and had his magical formula for sales.
I learned of his financial wisdom while doing business for Koch industries. I had stopped off nearby home when I met a salesman who was talking about buying his 11th home. He was saying he was finally paying them all off and I told him he sounded like my Dad. When he heard my dad was Scotty or Claude Scott, he told me that he learned how to be independently wealthy from my Dad because he taught classes in finances. That day I helped Dad to clean up one of the basements in one of the houses he rented. He told me, Son, if you ever own a home or rent there are two things you can not ignore. Always keep a good roof on it and take care of the plumbing. Water damage is one of the quickest ways to loose your investment.
I enjoyed his spiritual strength in the many times he guided me through hard times. One time he wrote me to read Isaiah 40:31
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."What stands out for me in my dad’s life is his creative genius, homespun wit, love for his parents, friends, family, and even strangers. But most of all is his love of truth.
I’ll end with three things of advice from my Father.
Dad wrote in a letter to me that in his greatest times of stress -- three things helped him. That is faith, hope, and love. These will stand the test of time -- and the greatest of these is love.
I want to include Dad's magic sales technique
1- Imagine the sale is made.
2- Talk to the person on their needs.
3- Put your sales item in plain site.
4- As they are comfortable they will ask about it.
5- Leave a descriptive card with no response.
I believe the true magic of my Father came from his heart – he truly had love and concern for other people.
Lastly, Dad wrote me once to learn to give and not expect to receive. He said “be open” and do not close the door on any relationship.
