August 20, 1929 - June 30, 2013
Robert was born to parents Martin and Emily Scott in Kobe, Japan, where Martin was a United States diplomat. Robert returned from Japan to the US in 1939 as World War II loomed. He lived in Seattle and San Francisco until enlisting in the US Marine Corps while still in high school. Following his service, Robert attended two years of college on the GI Bill, then was recalled in the Reserves to serve in Korea. Sgt. Scott fought as a machine gunner in the Battle of Inchon and the Chosin Reservoir campaign. Injured in action and returned to the States, Robert completed his recovery in Los Angeles, California. He was awarded the Purple Heart and a Letter of Commendation Medal.
Following the war, Robert briefly pursued a career in music before returning to college to study music formally. He graduated from the University of California with a Master's degree in Music; his thesis was a Catholic mass, the "Mass for Saint Cecelia". He moved to Burbank, formed the Robert Scott Chorale and the Burbank Women's Chorus, and became director of the Burbank Chamber Music Society. He also began a lengthy career as a high school teacher of English and Music, as well as becoming choir director for local churches.
As director for St. Francis Xavier parish choir in Burbank, Robert met soprano Helen Louise Haag and her daughter Janet. Robert and Helen fell in love, marrying in 1957 and settling down in Burbank, raising five children. Robert taught at Bishop Alemany HS and Canyon HS, directing numerous student musicals and concerts. He also became choir director for Our Lady of Peace Church in North Hills. Twice, Robert led combined choirs from the San Fernando Valley on tours of Europe; they performed in London, Paris, Brussels, and Rome, even singing in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. He loved opera and classical music, modern art, musicals, playing bridge, model railroads, chipped beef, and the Dodgers.
After Helen passed away in 1991, a now-retired Robert continued teaching at St. Francis High School in La Ca¿ada Flintridge. He moved to Houston, Texas in 1995, where he married Ines Kochman. He joined the Houston Symphony Chorus and taught English and Music at Stratford HS. He died as a result of injuries following a recent accident.
Robert is survived by his second wife, Ines; his sister Margot; his children Janet, Martin, Eric, and Aileen-Marie; and his grandchildren Robert, Jennifer, Andrew, and Ilona.
His ashes will be interred at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, California, next to his wife Helen and his daughter Paula.
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Published in the Los Angeles Times on July 14, 2013
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