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Scott McKean Obituary
December 4, 1934 to October 21, 2020
R. Scott McKean, 85, passed quietly at home in Seattle on October 21, 2020. The cause of death was heart failure.
Scott was born in Rochester, Minn. On December 4, 1934 to Dr. Robert Scott McKean M.D. and Gwendolyn Lyons McKean. Scott had two siblings, Thomas and Anne. The family settled in Boise, Idaho and Scott attended Boise High School, graduating in 1952. The family were members of Hillcrest Country Club and St. Michael's Episcopal Church.
Scott's undergraduate work was at Whitman College, class of '56, and he completed graduate work at University of Washington with studies in the Philosophy of Science and Physics. Scott taught physics in small liberal arts colleges and also pursued research in wave theory at the Applied Physics Lab at UW.
While a student, he married Joan Strange and they had three children, Melanie, Shauna, and Scott. The couple later divorced. Scott married Anne Harkins in 1968, no children, and they were also divorced. Scott has seven grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.
Scott was an unconventional person who lived an unconventional life. He was passionate about science and philosophy and stayed up late into the night reading and working out arcane mathematical problems. He loved music of all kinds, poetry, literature, and was easily engaged with all the arts and endeavors of the mind. His keen observations and critiques of modern life and his intuitions about individuals and their deepest motives were entertaining and often brilliant. He was funny, articulate, and surprisingly sentimental about the smallest things. He was deeply introverted but those who took the time to engage with this agile mind, were often rewarded.
Scott was preceded in death by both parents, his sister Anne McKean Ladley, his daughter Shauna Steingrebe, and by both of his former wives. He is survived by his life partner of 41 years, Lani Scheman. He is also survived by a brother Thomas McKean of Redmond, Oregon, a daughter Melanie and a son Robert Scott McKean of Fort Worth, Texas.
No memorial services are planned due to the coronavirus pandemic.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Scott McKean
Sponsored by The Idaho Statesman.
1 Entry
Trudy Baird Blakeslee
October 29, 2020
Sorry to hear of Scott's death. During the summer when I was in high school, I did light housework and stayed with Scott, Anne and Tommy when Dr and Mrs McKean were out of town. They were good kids and I enjoyed it. I have often thought of them.
Trudy Baird Blakeslee
Boise Idaho
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