Scott died in a tragic gunshot accident in his home. Scott’s Mother Ruth said that Scott’s wonderful wife Margaret found him and felt that the gun must have fallen off a table and fired. They were living in Sacremento, CA at the time. Scott attended Lehigh University and got an engineering degree. Then he spent 4 years in the Army Corp of Engineers, working on a project to clean up Marshall Island. When Scott was in 11th grade, he made a list of things he wanted to accomplish in his life. According to his Mother, he accomplished them all, including hiking the Appalachian Trail, skydiving, scuba diving, becoming a pilot, reading many books from the Smithsonian. “Scott was a fantastic person and so damn smart!”
Greg Jones: I have to admit that I was the least surprised to see Scotty Mansfield among the deceased. He may have had the worst health problems of anyone in our class. Scotty was one of 9 of us (Dave Backus, Dave Conklin, Ron Tanner, Fred Gropp, Jeff Kurlak, Bill Losh, Bill's younger brother Dave, Scotty & me) who went on an Explorer Scout canoe trip in Wisconsin. We all kept an eye on Scotty & helped him at times but he pulled his weight & had the same responsibilities as everyone else. The Scotty Mansfield I got to know on that trip was a good guy! I never really understood how much that meant to him till his parents ran my parents down at graduation to praise all of us for letting him be one of the guys. That was a rare thing for Scotty due to his health. As an Emergency Physician I have had the experience of treating a lot of people I know, bringing a few back from the brink of death and pronouncing some friends dead. Somehow the emotional roller-coaster I sometimes ride at work doesn't make it any easier to hear about the loss of old friends.