Obituary of Harold Scott

SCOTT ~ Harold Scott passed away peacefully in the Maidstone Health Complex, Maidstone, Saskatchewan on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at the age of 90 years. Harold will be sadly missed by his wife Kathleen; two sons: Bill and Mary Ellen Foster, Ron and Lorna Foster; six grandchildren: Mark and Brandy Foster, Steven and Jennifer Foster, Sylvia and James Bezmutko, Stacy and Geert Tepper, Leslie and Vinessa Foster, Kathy and Michael Putnam; seven great grandchildren: Noah Foster, Austin and Mercedes Foster, Tyler Bezmutko, Marissa and Julian Tepper, Joel Putnam; brother Bud and Lavina Scott; sister Thelma Lundell as well as numerous other relatives. The funeral service was conducted from the Maidstone Legion Hall, Maidstone, Saskatchewan on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 10:30 A.M. with Pastor Ken Yeo officiating. The eulogy was read by Keith Schempp. Harold Scott, my friend. Harold was born in 1919 in Beaver Valley to Sherman and Bertha Scott where he lived till he was 12 years old and then they moved to Maidstone. He had three brothers and three sisters, Gerald, Chester, Bud, Viola, Lilas and Thelma. Harold went to school at Kingsmeade, a distance of five miles, then Hunter�s Lodge school, which was a half-mile away. In 1931 - 1932 they moved to Maidstone, actually south of what we call the old Burgess place. In years later they moved to what we call the old Lorenze place west of Grand Cheviot school. As he grew older, he worked on threshing machines for various neighbors. He was a farmer and rancher and farmed with his dad and brothers on the family farm. He married Kathleen Foster in 1966, and moved north of Maidstone. After his dad sold the farm him and Gerald continued to farm north of Maidstone. Harold enjoyed the outdoors. As a young boy Harold along with Tom McLelland and Bud spent many hours hunting partridges, squirrels etc. with their sling shots. In the spring Harold and Bud used to put chicken eggs in the crow�s nest. When the baby chicks hatched they took them home and raised them. He had a trap line too that they checked after school with a flashlight. Harold enjoyed music. He learned to play the violin and guitar and often played for dances at Grand Cheviot. He liked everybody�s kids and loved to tease them. (Not just kids). I knew Harold as a man of many talents. It would take me a long time to tell you about a fraction of the good times we had, mostly to do with hunting, ski-dooing and playing horseshoes. And it would take me that long again to tell you all of the things I have heard about him. (All good of course). Harold was a ball player, a secret weapon you might say. I heard a story from many people but never from Harold and about a ball game. It was a game that they had to win against Neilburg. Harold was a pitcher. Pitchers are not noted for batting abilities as a rule. Even his teammates said Harold had trouble with a pitch zone, but give him a pitch that you should use a golf club on and it was gone. That�s exactly what happened. Neilburg�s pitcher had been throwing them low all game so the coach saved Harold as a secret weapon and it worked for when the big hit was needed the coach put Harold in and he got a home run. Harold�s team, the Maidstone team won that game and defeated them again in the championship game. Harold was an astrologer believe it or not. I heard a story once or twice about Harold admiring the stars (God�s handiwork). He was talking about how wonderful the stars looked in the clear night sky. The problem being his head was out the truck window when it was -35 and the driver wasn�t freezing. Harold thought the stars were beautiful. I will leave you to fill in the blanks about why his head was out the window and he wasn�t noticing the cold. Harold was a hunter, a real hunter, from shooting deer just before Christmas to hunting moose at Turtle Lake to hunting geese whenever we could find them. He was always willing and very able to be up to any task. (But I could never get him to learn to reload shells, he said that was my job. He�d just shoot them!!) Now that I think about it, Harold was a mentor and I think he liked nothing more than to mentor, myself and all his younger friends around the fire at lunchtime when we were hunting. I think lunchtime was more fun for Harold than the actual hunting. (And that was a lot of fun for us too my friend.) He was a man that would stick up for you if you were right and tell you if you were wrong. If he told you something, you could count on it. Harold is in heaven now and we are here at his funeral. This is not the time for us to grieve his death but it�s our time to celebrate his life. This is not a moment for us to shed our tears but we should all be thankful that we were given the chance to have known a man named Harold Scott. He will be missed but not forgotten, my friend and yours. The solo was �Just A Closer Walk With Thee� sung by Henry and Joan Sawatzky. The hymns sung were �What A Friend We Have In Jesus� and �Beyond The Sunset� accompanied on the organ by Eleanor Robertson. The honorary pallbearers were All Those Who Shared In Harold�s Life. The active pallbearers were Dwayne Lyons, Murray Brausse, Gary Taylor, Ted Bamford, David Hardy and Keith Schempp. Interment took place in the Maidstone Cemetery. CARD OF THANKS A heartfelt thanks to the doctors and nurses for their care at home and in the Maidstone hospital until his passing. To Pastor Yeo and Mr. Robertson for conducting the funeral service, Eleanor Robertson for playing the organ and Henry and Joan Sawatzky for singing a duet beautifully, our deepest gratitude. Our thanks to the beautiful flowers and food sent to the house and the Legion Ladies, who served a wonderful lunch. Thank you to McCaw Funeral Service for administering the funeral arrangements and to those who traveled so far to come. You will always be remembered. Kathleen Scott Bill & Mary Ellen Ron & Lorna And Families Donations in memory of Harold may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation or to a charity of the donors choice.