David Robert Main Scott

David Robert Main SCOTT David R. M. Scott died of congestive heart failure on Wednesday, December 18, 2002. Having joined the faculty of the University of Washington College of Forestry in 1955, he retired as professor emeritus in 1988. He taught silvics, silviculture, and forest ecology both on campus and at Pack Forest, also guiding scores of graduate students through their masters' and Ph.D. degrees. Although he served in administrative positions also, his first love was teaching. (For one student's tribute, see http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/sept99/class/scott.html.) Professor Scott was born August 30, 1921, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of Rachel Main Scott and William Scott, who later became chair of the Randolph-Macon Woman's College Department of Religion in Lynchburg, Virginia. David graduated from E. C. Glass High School in Lynchburg, Virginia, and received his bachelor's degree at the University of Virginia in 1942. After serving in World War II as a Canadian army artillery and infantry officer, he entered Yale University Forestry School, receiving his M.F. and Ph.D. (1950). He conducted forestry research for the Canadian government in Alberta and Ontario until 1955, when he accepted the position in Seattle. In 1944, David married Carolyn Beardsworth, an alumna of R-M W C. He always claimed to have fallen in love with her in kindergarten, though he didn't muster the courage to ask her for a date until their senior year in high school. With his Ph.D. in sight, they launched their family, with twin daughters, Victoria and Margaret (1950), followed by David William (1954) and Iain Russell (1957). David is survived by his devoted wife and by Victoria, David, Iain, and their spouses, as well as 12 grandchildren and two great-grandsons. His daughter Margaret predeceased him in 2001, when she was killed in a tragic accident. David will be greatly missed by his many former students and neighbors of long standing. He will be remembered for his unstinting generosity and wonderful sense of humor. He was an inveterate reader and spinner of tales -- a true "Renaissance Man" with unlimited interests. Primary among these were fly fishing, bird shooting, and training his springer spaniels to compete in dog trials (very successfully!). In his Laurelhurst neighborhood, where he and Carolyn lived for 45 years, he became a beloved "character," with good friends of all ages. At present, no services are planned. Friends who wish to do so may contribute to the charity of their choice or to the David R. M. Scott Endowed Scholarship in forestry (for information: 206-543-2730), which his students established in his honor upon his retirement. In the spring of 1986, when discharged from the hospital after three months recovering from a severe cerebral aneurysm, doctors told his family that he would require 24-hour custodial care and never be able to drive, teach, nor "find his way home." David, sly fox and stubborn Scotsman that he was, returned to teaching and all of his usual activities. To the end, he remained cheerful, a consummate host, and a true Stoic in the face of declining health. Long live the king!