Malcolm John "Scotty" Scott, contractor, real estate broker, developer, sportsman, musician, aviator, bon vivant, prankster, devoted friend and mentor, died January 20 in Penticton, BC, after a long decline. He was 85.
A pilot while still in his teens, he flew crop dusters in Grand Forks, BC, in the 1940s, and many larger and finer planes for decades thereafter. He tried to enlist in the Canadian air force in the final year of the Second World War, and was prevented from deployment only because a local recruiter recognized the underage 15-year-old. He was a crack shot and an excellent horseman, hunting widely through the hills above Grand Forks throughout his formative years.
His quick mind and physical stamina earned him a joint trade rating in both electrical and refrigeration. In 1953 while wiring a light from the top of a ladder at a Greenwood sawmill, he fell into a moving saw nearly amputating his left foot. He married his fiancee, Mary Stooshinoff, while still in his hospital bed in Vancouver. Although doctors told him he might never walk again, he fought back through years of punishing rehab and multiple surgeries, regaining almost full use of his injured foot. He was an avid golfer, tennis player, curler, and skier for the rest of his life.
Through the 1960s and 70s, as managing partner of the Boundary group of companies he oversaw the electrical and mechanical subcontracts on three Columbia River Treaty dams, at numerous pulp-and-paper and sawmill operations, and in the mines and coal developments of the East Kootenay. In later years he became a realtor and real estate broker, a property developer in the Lower Mainland and southern Ontario, and a speculative investor never shy to try a long shot. He was a great friend and mentor to many younger men coming up behind, in both professional and fraternal organizations.
More than anything Malcolm was widely known and liked for his irrepressible sense of humour, his easy-going manner and ready jokes, and his love of a good party. He was a world-class sweet talker.
He was predeceased by his wife Lois Cooke; and by his parents Richard and Aida Irene Scott of Grand Forks, his brothers Nelson, Kenneth and Dale Scott, and his sister Joyce Scott Toewes. He is survived by his sister Norma Scott Evans of West Kelowna; by his first wife Mary Stooshinoff Scott of Victoria and his second wife Joanne Liberon Farrell Scott of New South Wales, Australia; by his children Michael Allan Scott of Vancouver and Carmen Jean Scott (and husband Douglas Parsons) of Victoria; by his stepsons Paul Kelland Farrell (and children Meg and Piper), of New South Wales, Australia, and Ian Fletcher Farrell (and daughter Laura) of Toronto; and most especially by his beloved grand-daughter Hadley Brice Parsons of Victoria.
Malcolm led a vey active lifestyle and for years was a member of the Penticton Golf & Country Club, Penticton Curling Club, and Rotary International. He was a long-standing member of Harmony Lodge No. 37 A.F.&A.M. in Grand Forks, BC, as well as a member of Gizeh Shriners of BC & Yukon.
A celebration of Malcolm’s life and interment of his ashes will be held in the spring in Grand Forks.