In lieu of flowers, Jim would really have preferred that you make a donation to your church, buy dinner for a friend, or save up your money for a fishing trip.
Longtime Lancaster resident Jim Scott passed away on Friday, September 29. Those who know that Jim's family lineage traces back to the original settlement of Lancaster may be surprised to know that he was actually born in San Antonio. In fact, Jim liked to brag that he was so truly "Texan" that his mother was looking at the Alamo from her hospital bed when he was born!
Jim graduated from Pachal High School in Fort Worth and went on to serve his country as a Seabee in the U.S. Navy. During the late 1950's he spent time in Kodiak, Alaska, where he received an accommodation for assisting in the rescue of other servicemen during a tragic fire, and on the Kwajalein Atoll where he witnessed an explosion from the test of a nuclear bomb conducted on the Pacific Testing Grounds in the Marshall Islands.
Upon leaving the Navy, Jim began working at Minyard's Grocery on the old town square in Lancaster. This was the beginning of a life-long career in the "grocery business" that ended with his retirement from the corporate offices of Tom Thumb Supermarkets in 1992.
In his later years, Jim loved to spend his time hunting and fishing with his kids and going to high school ballgames coached by his son-in-law, Mark. Most mornings he could be found telling stories with the gang at the "Hickory House," and he so looked forward to his weekly poker games with his dear friends Marvin and Anita Killingsworth, Louise Vitale, and Lynden and Janet Nichols.
About 3 years ago, Jim moved to Fort Worth to be closer to his son, Mike. This was so that he would have someone close by to call for help in emergencies like when his TV remote suddenly reprogrammed itself, denying him access to his beloved reruns of every old western TV show ever made and for when his cell phone would become infected by evil spirits whose sole purpose was to make it impossible for him to open the solitaire app he loved to play.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Ellis and Ailene Scott, and his son, Bud who passed away in 2008. He is survived by his son Mike and his wife Karen, daughter Sarah, her husband Mark and their son Casen, Bud's wife Susan and their children Emily, Michael and Susanne, and his former wife, Sue and her husband Stan.