Necrology
Eugene Arthur Scott '63
Jan. 18, 2021
In a reunion yearbook, Eugene Arthur Scott ’63 shared a long and varied list of Hamilton memories that included reflections of faculty mentors and classmates. He summed up his College experience like this: “The foundation Hamilton gave me in logic, art, music, literature, philosophy, writing, and especially speaking has enriched both my professional and my personal life beyond measure.”
Perhaps that’s why he was delighted that his twin daughters, Susan Scott ’90 and Jennifer Scott ’90, became third-generation Hamiltonians.
Born in Holland Patent, N.Y., Scott graduated from nearby Remsen High School where his father, Arthur Scott, Jr. ’33, served as the principal. His mother was the former Eunice Shahan.
Scott entered Hamilton with the Class of 1957. He joined Chi Psi fraternity, The Spectator staff, the soccer team, and eventually received departmental honors in math. However, amidst those achievements came a six-year intermission between his sophomore and junior years when he spent time at the U.S. Army Intelligence School at Fort Holabird in Baltimore and several years with the Counter Intelligence Corps at Fort Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.
After returning to complete his undergraduate degree requirements in 1963, Scott earned his master’s degree in educational psychology and statistics from the State University of New York at Albany.
In 1964, Scott became a statistician for the NYS Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. He would spend the next 31 years in biostatistics, research analysis, and information management for the departments of education, mental hygiene, transportation, and health. A highlight of his career came at the health department, where he assisted in developing a data system used to identify and pinpoint systemic problems in coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
“Leading experts in the state and across the country have credited this data system with saving hundreds of lives — a most satisfying way to finish a career,” he wrote in his 40th reunion yearbook.
Scott took early retirement in 1995 and relished the time spent with his wife, Helen Farrell Scott. Together they enjoyed reading, thoroughbred racing in Saratoga, N.Y., British mysteries on PBS and A&E, and spending time at their summer camp at Piseco Lake in the Adirondacks. Other interests included tennis, bridge, backgammon, and New York Times crosswords.
A lifelong singer, Scott was a member of the Capitol Hill Choral Society (through which he met his wife), the Masterworks Chorale at The College of Saint Rose, the Mendelssohn Club of Albany, the Burnt Hills Oratorio Society, Octavo Singers, and the Baldwin Alumni Reunion Choir at Hamilton.
Scott died on Jan. 18, 2021, in Albany, N.Y., at the age of 85. Predeceased by his wife, he is survived by his daughters.
