Richard G. Scott’s son: He was the ‘apostle of the one’
Elder Richard G. Scott with his son, Michael Scott; in the early 1980s.
Elder Richard G. Scott with his family in the early 1980s. Left to right: daughter Linda Mickle, holding her daughter Emily, Michael Scott, Elder Richard G. Scott, Jeanene.
Elder Richard G. Scott with his granddaughter Emily Mickle, in the early 1980s.
Elder Scott relates this experience about his wife. "As I was about to graduate from the university, I fell in love with a beautiful young woman named Jeanene Watkins. I thought she was beginning to have some deep feelings for me also. One night when we were talking about the future, she carefully wove into the discussion a statement that changed my life forever. She said, “When I marry, it will be to a faithful returned missionary in the temple.”
Richard and Jeanene's wedding picture with their parents in 1953. Kenneth L. and Mary E. Scott to the left; Andrea and Arthur V. Watkins on the right. Kenneth was on the personal staff of Agriculture Secretary Ezra Taft Benson and Arthur was a U.S. Senator from Utah at the time.
Elder Richard G. Scott was known by many as a gentle giant.
His soft-spoken voice drew people to listen to his words, as he would teach and expound the gospel.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints saw him as a special witness of the Savior, and Scott took the responsibility on with all his heart, might, mind and strength, until his body and mind had given their all.
So it may come as a surprise to some that this soft-spoken apostle also had a great sense of humor, loved to crank up the sound on his stereo, and played the clarinet.
During a Wednesday interview with the Daily Herald, his son Michael W. Scott remembered some of the sweet at-home moments with his dad.
“He has a great sense of humor,” Scott said. “Most people would not see that, but get him rolling (telling jokes) and he’d keep going and going and going.”
Michael Scott remembers a while back when he was traveling with his father, who was on an assignment as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to Oaxaca, Mexico. He was meeting with 150 missionaries.
The elders and sisters had already assembled and were sitting reverently with straight faces waiting for Elder Scott to enter the room. Observing the rather uptight demeanor of the congregation from the doorway, Elder Scott and his son entered the room and took their place on the stand.
Before sitting down, Elder Scott looked at those assembled and said, “You all look so solemn. I want to tell you a joke.”
According to Michael Scott, the apostle told a couple of jokes to get the missionaries laughing and then told them to keep those smiles on their faces. Then he sat down. The meeting started and progressed as planned.
“The missionaries were shocked,” Michael Scott said.
He noted most of the missionaries had never been exposed to an apostle’s sense of humor.
There wasn’t anything that made Elder Scott smile more than his beloved wife Jeanene. Those who have heard any of his general conference talks or read any of his writings know she is always mentioned. She remained a part of all he did, even after her death at age 65 from cancer.
Richard and Jeanene Scott met and fell in love in Washington, D.C., where their parents were working. His father was an assistant to the Secretary of Agriculture, Ezra Taft Benson, and she was the daughter of U.S. Sen. Arthur V. Watkins.
Michael Scott recalls that as a daughter of a U.S. senator, his mother was involved with several social activities. After the Scott’s marriage they attended a ball where many people recognized and spoke with Jeanene, and referred to Richard as Jeanene’s husband.
“After that, my father told her, ‘Someday you’re going to be known as Richard Scott’s wife,'” Michael Scott said.
Even after her death, Michael Scott said his father referred to his mother in the present tense. Elder Scott was often asked if he planned on remarrying. He would respond he was already married.
The Scotts fell in love in college, but were prompted to serve LDS missions at the same time. They were married within weeks after both had returned home.
“They had a really unique and deep love,” Michael Scott said. “My mother told me once that she loved my dad so much that she decided if anything happened to him on his mission she would not marry, but wait.”
They both believed marriage was eternal and fully expected to be together forever.
One of Elder Scott’s other loves was music, and really cool stereo systems, according to Michael Scott. Elder Scott was known for having the best sound system on the block.
“My dad loved jazz music. He helped pay for college by playing (the clarinet) in a jazz band,” Michael Scott said. “He loved stereo systems and always had to have the largest speakers.”
When Elder Scott had a particularly rough day, he would come home and, while still in his suit and tie, lay on the floor, crank up the jazz and lay there and relax. Michael Scott said his father liked old-style jazz, particularly Benny Goodman and his contemporaries.
From listening to cranked-up woofers and tweeters, to top-secret work on nuclear reactors, Richard G. Scott’s life was full of discovery, research and learning.
Elder Scott was a man of science, distinguishing himself in the field of nuclear physics. He reported directly to Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the father of the nuclear Navy.
It’s not just that Elder Scott was assigned to complete designs on the core of a nuclear reactor, but most of the now-accepted science on such a thing didn’t even exist.
“Dad authored chapters and books, pushing the frontier on nuclear power,” Michael Scott said. “He was brilliant, and when he does something he goes all in.
“His mindset was engineering, and his mind was always asking questions if there was a better way.”
That is why for Elder Scott, church and science worked beautifully together, according to Michael Scott. He was always asking if it could be done better.
“His service in the church exemplified that,” Michael Scott said. “Try something different, he would say.”
Many times Elder Scott would bring something home, and he and Michael would do some investigating.
“Let’s take this apart and see how it works, how it does what it does,” Michael Scott said, referring to his father’s excitement to learn.
As much as his father loved to learn and do research, even getting the equivalent of a Ph.D from a top-secret program, he was always concerned about the individual.
“I heard someone use the term that my father was the ‘apostle of the one,'” Michael Scott said. “He was always pursuing seeking out the one, the sinner, the abused, the ones on the fringes.
“He’d reach out and had the ability to connect with those he was speaking to. It was a unique gift.”
Funeral services for Elder Scott will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the Tabernacle on Temple Square. The funeral will be open to the public ages 8 and older.
The Temple Square gates and the Tabernacle doors will open at 9:30 a.m. Those wishing to attend should be in their seats by 10:30 a.m. Overflow seating will be available in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square.
The funeral services will be broadcast live via MormonNewsroom.org, LDS.org, KSL TV 5.2, BYUtv, BYUtv Global, BYUtv Eleven, BYUtv International, Mormon Channel, Canal Mormón (Spanish) and on the LDS Church satellite system. In addition, audio broadcasts will air on KSL radio, BYU Classical 89 and BYU Radio.
A private burial service will take place at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park in Salt Lake City following the funeral.
There will be no public viewing, but expressions of sympathy can be posted on Elder Scott’s official Facebook page or emailed to condolences@ldschurch.org.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the church’s General Missionary Fund at give.lds.org/elderscott.
