Necrology

Richard Drew Van Scoy '61

May. 19, 1939-Dec. 15, 2021

Richard "Dick" Drew Van Scoy ’61, P’95 died at his home in Candor, N.Y., on Dec. 15, 2021. Born in Waverly, N.Y., on May 19, 1939, and raised in Candor, a small town near Binghamton, he came to Hamilton from Candor High School. On the Hill, he was a member of Gryphon fraternity and majored in chemistry. On the Pep Band all four years, the swim team as a freshman, the Intramural Council as a junior, and the Biology Club during his junior and senior years, he was also on Gryphon’s intramural hockey team.

From Hamilton Dick proceeded to Cornell University to begin medical school but did not complete the program, finding it unrewarding. On Dec. 21, 1963, he married Hope Barden, whom he had first met at his brother’s birthday party in 1945, and whom he began dating in high school. Hope’s family were farmers in the town of Candor. After trying to start a family and not succeeding, Dick and Hope adopted a child from Korea. Thereafter, they had four biological children and adopted three more, all African Americans: eight children in all. At the time of his death, Dick and Hope would have 20 grandchildren. 

In 1966, his father’s business partner died suddenly, and Dick returned to Candor to work for Ward and Van Scoy, a farm supply business that provided farmers in the area with cattle feed, seeds for planting, and hardware. He operated the business for 42 years, retiring in 2008.

Dedicated to his community, Dick served for many years as a member of both the Candor Chamber of Commerce and the school board. He was also a lifelong member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, including the vestry and choir. He also sang bass (and sometimes tenor) in the Candor community chorus. He claimed his participation in its various performances was the result of his sleeping with the chorus director, who happened to be Mrs. Van Scoy.

He was deeply devoted to the town’s public library both as a user and as a volunteer. He was proud to be part of the library’s growth from when it was housed in the anteroom of a local funeral home, and then in succession, in the waiting room of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad station, his family’s hardware store, and a former bank building. In 1975, the library acquired federal funds to help build a new and permanent building of its own. Dick saw it all.

A regular donor to the Hamilton Fund, Dick recalled in his 50th reunion yearbook the impact his time on the Hill had on him and his family. It was: “more challenging than a country bumpkin could imagine, and from that the things I’ve tried to do since have fallen into place. … I sent a kid there [and] I gained the confidence that I could nurture an Asian and three African Americans in a small town in upstate New York.”

Richard D. Van Scoy is survived by his wife, eight children, including Heidi Van Scoy Butt ’95, and 20 grandchildren.

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