Tera Scott

1953 - 2025

Tera Scott, treasured daughter, sister, aunt, mentor, companion, and friend, passed on August 11, 2025 with her family by her side.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah on February 17, 1953, Tera was forever a collector of experiences and knowledge. Over her lifetime, she lived in Utah, California, Oregon, and Georgia; received degrees in Speech Pathology, Guidance Counseling, and Nursing; worked as a Speech Pathologist, Dean of Girls at both Monterey Bay Academy (CA) and Georgia Cumberland Academy (GA), and Home Health nurse at both St. Helena Hospital and Kaiser in Santa Rosa; and read countless books (she said life began when she learned to read).

But more than that, Tera was a ready partner in just about any adventure, whether it was laughing uncontrollably on an innertube on a lazy river, driving cross-country in the middle of hurricane season, sailing to Alaska to check the 50th state off her list, or soaking in the silence of an early morning hot-air balloon ride above the vineyards. She knew how to celebrate-with tea-parties and balloon arches and trips to Hawaii and much anticipated birthday boxes from wherever she was to wherever you were, filled with books and music and handmade treasures and letters. She showed up in ways that humbled those of us on the receiving end. And she loved a surprise, no matter how big or small-driving for days to unexpectedly crash a wedding shower or join a surprise trip to Disneyland, or hiding small gifts in the garden at her annual birthday trip to Santa Cruz.

One of Tera's favorite authors, Mark Twain said, "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." And so, while we grieve the loss of her presence in our lives, we can also let her go without fear. Because, by her example, she taught us all how to live.

Please join family and friends in a celebration of Tera's life on Sunday, September 14, at 1:00 p.m. at the St. Helena Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

Tera Scott