Raymond Scott

Eulogy of Raymond Scott by the Scott children:



"Raymond G Scott started his life in the rural fringe of the Montana Rocky Mountain front back in the late '20's. His early life was the idyllic childhood of taking a .22, a box of shells, a box of wooden matches and some salt with his good friend, Frank Kelly. Forget school, underwear and socks and off to the mountains around Cascade to live off the land fishing and hunting, back in the days before permits, government intrusion and permits, to live off the land for nameless un numbered days. No watch, no calendar and no schedule, even if it meant missing school for a couple of weeks. All at the age of ten.

We have a picture of our dad driving a 6 mule team cargo wagon, delivering supplies to outlying ranches well before paved roads and rural electricity, dressed in a single strap pair of coveralls, his total clothing, shoes optional. Living with his father, who was never educated to read and write, living in a clapboard shack with no power, no water, one hole out-house and reading to him at night Ranch Romances with such heroes as invented by Zane Grey and Louis Lamour, where conflicts were settled by fists and the good guy always got the girl.

World War II found him a bit young to join up so he joined anyway, not to miss the great "big adventure" of his generation and found himself in the Pacific War in the Navy at the tender age of 17. He seldom would talk about those days but we could tell they were the grand days of his youth. When the war was over, he came back to the simple little cow town of Cascade MT, the guy who had "seen the elephant" and swept our mother, Hazel, off her feet into the back seat of the 1939 Chevy. Thank god for that or the 4 of us would not be....

Ray was a helluva dad, tough love from the model of life he grew up with. Learn from hardships, fend for yourself, your word is your bond and your integrity is more important than making a buck. For those of you who remember those Montana lessons on life, Ray was the example we grew up with. For all of us, it was the lesson of life we still live to this day.

Getting a compliment or a friendly pat was tough to get, but once earned, more appreciated than ever because it was so hard to earn. In our later years, it was evident Ray wasn't as tough as he tried to be, but a caring, loving person inside though difficult to see.

For each child who lives life, there's parent's who gave them the initial training and the foundation of the important things, what's right and wrong, sense of self and a standard of what's most important in the world.

For that, everything that we are today came from the lessons and tools I learned as a child growing up in Montana, with Montana standards and Ray as our father. For that we thank him deeply for all that we are and we'll miss him.

For those of you who knew Ray and enjoyed his grin and outlook on life, we share with you the experience of knowing him and appreciating the fact he was a real man, the kind we encounter more and more rarely these days. We could do well to emulate his stand up outspoken honest to one self outlook on life.

The Scott Children, Don, John, Leonard and Sandra Scott





Raymond G. Scott, age 84, of Choteau, MT died Monday October 31, 2011 at the Teton Medical Center in Choteau, MT from natural causes. At his request, no services are planned. Cremation has taken place under the direction of Gorder Jensen Funeral Home of Choteau.



Raymond was born April 7, 1927 in Cascade, MT, the son of Leonard Leo Scott and Ethel Parkinson. He has lived in Choteau since age 23. He was married to Hazel McLoughlin in Cascade, MT and they later divorced. He was then married to Elaine DeRuwe in 1974 in Choteau, MT and they later divorced. He was married by common-law to Betty Depner-Wilkerson. He was a mechanic and a WW II veteran of the US Navy.



He enjoyed hunting, fishing and bowling and was a member of the Choteau VFW.



Raymond is survived by his common-law wife, Betty Wilkerson; children: John Scott of Guam, Don Scott of Libby, MT, Leonard Scott of Watford, North Dakota, and Sandra Dory of Brady, MT; stepchildren: Kevin Wilkerson and Kaare Wilkerson both of Winchester, CA and 6 grandchildren.



He was preceded in death by his parents, 4 brothers and 4 sisters.