Georgene Frances Scott

Raised by a tenacious and resourceful working mother in Portland, Oregon, Georgene had vivid memories of childhood that included her nearby maternal grandparents. While the hardships of the Depression and war years made for simple living, her early years were rich. From her grandma she learned to sew, and to braid, recalling, “I braided bread dough. I made Challah on Fridays with Grandma.” Of her grandpa, “he stacked wood for the furnace with the same exactness he measured the distance between rows in the garden.”

A head for numbers and precision. Hands for creating. A resolute heart. If these were Georgene’s roots, then endless curiosity and a cheerful spirit were her wings. And so she flew, from one adventure to the next over a lifetime defined by creativity, courage and change.

Adulthood started with sorority life at Willamette University, which by age 21 became marriage to James (Jim) Scott, two children and an office job, plus contract sewing, to support her growing family. These were challenging years and the family was helped by both sets of grandparents and Georgene’s determination.

They moved five times before the fourth child was born and then across the country and back before settling in Marysville with their first owned home in the early 1970s. There, Georgene made the family home, worked as a bookkeeper, and helped get Planned Parenthood of Snohomish County off the ground.

Georgene struggled after her 1973 divorce, but she persevered. She finished college, started a successful accounting business, bought a home and by 1983 had settled into a new world of independence without children at home.

As an empty nester, Georgene explored many interests, including plants, theater, and a refocused attention on craft and art. She knit countless sweaters and hats that adorn heads around the world, she sewed and embroidered with abandon and explored the world with both her children and grandchildren. When life took her to the Seattle area, the Arboretum and Bloedel Reserve became favorite destinations, home to the giant trees, moss carpets and lichen laden branches she revered.

She moved another twelve times, a Pacific Northwest nomad whose wanderings concluded with nearly 20 years on Bainbridge Island. Always, she reveled in the beauty of nature. Never did she stop wondering and learning about the world and its workings.

Georgene was resilient and accomplished, a natural teacher and a prolific and meticulous creator. Few things made her happier than the gift of a homemade card, a seed pod or a tree cone, the latter inevitably inspiring a lesson in the fact that not all cones belong to pines.

She said her greatest gifts to the world were her children: Steven, Kent, Brian (Marianne), Diane. Then grandchildren: Alexander, Elliot, Taylor, Hazel, Moses, Levi, Shaina, and great grands: Jack, Erasmus, Promas, Atreyu, Mili… and one on the way.

Like her mother, Georgene built an abundant life with modest means. And like her grandpa, Georgene counted — among other things, addresses (29), cars (14) elder hostel trips (30) stiches (innumerable) train cars (whenever they went by) and of course, dollars in and out, whether at the grocery store with her kids for a lesson in household economics or for clients. She memorized dozens of botanical names, collected more cones, sticks, fabric and yarn than practical and spread more delight than probable.

Most of all of course, she counted to us in all her kooky and frank ways. Georgene was 90 when she died, Sunday 2/22. Those are some good numbers.

If you’d like to honor Georgene, please consider a gift to the Arboretum Foundation or Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho.