Robert Ronald Scott

Robert (Bob) Ronald Scott, 94, of East Millcreek, died early Saturday (January 11) of causes incident to age. He was born August 31, 1919 in Salt Lake City, the third child of James Latimer and Lucy Russell Scott.

He was raised in the Russell family home on West Temple, in the Jefferson Ward area of the city. A few years after his father passed away when Bob was just 10, he lived for a year on a farm in Star Valley, Wyoming, an experience he often referred to as "transformative" and "inspirational."

He graduated from South High School in 1938 before enrolling at the University of Utah, where he studied chemistry. His academic work was interrupted by missionary service for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil, where he became fluent in German and Portuguese; and, by World War II. He was a radio technician on a U.S. Navy communications ship assigned to the fleet that would have supported the invasion of Japan had it not surrendered after the first atomic bombs were dropped.

While stationed stateside, Bob married Lillian Haws on July 8, 1944 in Gulfport, Mississippi. Their vows were later solemnized in the Salt Lake L.D.S. Temple. They lived in San Francisco for several months before he embarked for the war in the Pacific. Returning home, he earned a B.A. degree in Chemistry.

As a college student, Bob was part of a team directed by Gordon B. Hinckley, later president of the church, which translated LDS scriptures into Portuguese. After graduating college, he worked for Wasatch Chemical Company for a number of years before founding a company that eventually became known as Universal Chemical, a formulator and manufacturer of industrial products.

Regretting that his musical abilities were limited to drums, which he played in the University of Utah Concert Orchestra, Bob took up piano lessons as a young father. He practiced rigorously and often accompanied his children when they sang or played other musical instruments.

Like others that came of age during The Great Depression and World War II, Bob believed one should acquire pragmatic survival skills. Over the years he learned carpentry, electrical wiring and cabinet-making. When public sewers came to East Millcreek in the late 1950s, he, with help from neighbors and children, hand dug the trenches and laid the pipe that connected the family home to the system. Assisted by sons Brent, Joe and David, he remodeled the family home and transformed a rustic cabin Brighton into a place that became a treasured gathering spot for the family. He often observed that the very best times of his life came working side-by-side with children

After he retired from business in the late 1980s, he and Lillian served as adult missionaries for the L.D.S. Church in Salt Lake City then, later, in Portugal on the Island of Madeira, off the coast of Africa. On their return home, Bob became a productive Portuguese-to-English translator for the church, where he worked tirelessly for more than 20 years until two days before his death.

Lillian, his wife of 64 years, passed away in 2008. He is survived by all eight of their children: Ronald Bruce (Diana), of San Francisco/Boston; James Brent (Wendy), Roberta Jean Jelovchan (Keith), Joseph Lynn (Patti), Mary Englund (Ryan), Lillian Howell (Leonard), Catherine Ruth Bullock (Matthew), and David Russell (Joleen), all of metropolitan Salt Lake City; 37 grandchildren (three grandchildren and one great-grandchild preceded him in death); 65 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his eldest brother J. Russell Scott and numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral services are scheduled for Friday Jan. 17 at 11 a.m. in the Garden Heights South LDS Ward meetinghouse, 2260 East Fisher Lane. Interment will follow in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Friends and family may call at The Holbrook Mortuary, 3251 South 2300 East Thursday Jan. 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. and from 9:30-10:30 a.m. at the church before the service on Friday. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages contributions to the general missionary fund of the LDS Church or a favorite charity.