Charles Thomas Scott

Charles Thomas Scott

MADISON - Charles Thomas Scott passed away of natural causes on June 24th at Oakwood Village in Madison. He leaves behind a family whom he loved dearly.

He was born in New York City, the first child of Charles Scott and Elizabeth Flanagan Scott. He grew up in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, later in the Woodside neighborhood of Queens.

He attended high school at Cardinal Hayes (Bronx) and Marist Prep (Esopus, NY); and three years of college at Marist (Poughkeepsie, NY), then graduating from St. John's (Brooklyn), in 1954. He worked on Wall Street until he entered the U.S. Army in 1954, serving in the 2nd Armored Division, in Germany. After his discharge, he earned an M.A. degree at NYU.

He married Anne Mulgrew in 1957, and left Wall Street to begin a teaching career at Power Memorial Academy (New York City). His son Robert was born in 1958 and later that year, he went to Kabul, Afghanistan with his wife and son as a member of the English language faculty of the Teachers College, Columbia University educational project. In 1960, he and his family (then including second son Michael) returned to the States where he earned his Ph.D. in linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1963 he was appointed to the faculty in the English Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and moved his family (then including two daughters, Lisabeth and Sheila) to Madison. At UW he established a program in English as a second language (ESL) for the instruction of international students at the university. In 1965, he went to Japan with his family to serve as consultant to the English Language Education Council, Tokyo, and director of its English language institute. While there, he also served as English language tutor to Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko. He regarded his association with them as one of the great pleasures of his life.

He and his family returned to Madison in 1966. At UW he helped establish new graduate programs in the field of English language and linguistics. In 1968 he was promoted to full professor and in 1970 he began a four-year term as Chair of the Department of English, after which he spent a semester's sabbatical at MIT, bringing his family with him to the Boston area. Over his career, he served on several overseas study projects (in India, Poland and China) and national committees, plus numerous campus committees and terms in the Faculty Senate. He also directed several English language teacher projects for international teachers from Japan and Italy. In 1995 he relinquished his position as director of the Program in ESL and returned to full-time teaching assignments for the remainder of his academic career. He retired from the UW-Madison faculty in 2000 after 37 years of service.In retirement, he and his wife enjoyed time at their cabin in Three Lakes, Wisconsin; traveled in Northern Ireland and the Holy Land; and visited their children around the country. He actively supported numerous charities, including the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry and St. Ambrose Academy in Madison, and was an active patron of the arts in Madison. A talented baseball player himself, his childhood allegiance to the New York Giants was transferred to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Charles was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Patricia Bielecky, his brother Walter Scott, and his wife Anne. He is survived by his sons Robert and Michael, his daughters Lisabeth and Sheila, his granddaughter Hannah, his adopted son Rev. Paul Ugo Arinze, and his sister Virginia McGurgan (John).

A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on July 6th at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Madison. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. Mass will begin at 11:00 a.m. Interment will be in Resurrection Cemetery in Madison. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Cathedral Parish of Madison are requested.