Scott R. McCormick, 61, of Clarion passed away unexpectedly Saturday, June 26,
2021 in his home.
Funeral services for Scott McCormick will be held at 6:00 PM on Thursday, July
1, 2021, at Ewing Funeral Home, 1801 Central Avenue East in Clarion, with Pastor
Bill Kem officiating.
Visitation will be held Thursday from 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM at the funeral home
prior to the funeral service.
Scott Russell McCormick, the son of Dean and Ruth (Soren) McCormick was born on
August 12, 1959 in Clarion, Iowa. Scott grew up outside of Clarion at his home
on the family farm with his older brother and sister Rick and Christi. There
were a lot of responsibilities growing up on the farm. After the school day you
would come home, change your clothes and start your daily chores. It has been
said that Dean may have cut the TV cord a time or two after catching the kids
watching TV instead of doing chores. Scott joined his siblings in 4H and took
great pride in showing livestock at the fair. Rick and Christi showed the brown
swiss milking cows and Scott showed the "whitest" sheep around. Christi recalled
a time where some trees on the new property needed to be trimmed and Scott was
tasked with this project. Scott took the chainsaw and climbed one of the trees
to get started. As Scott was trimming some branches the chainsaw slipped and cut
his leg. Scott climbed down, made it to the car and drove himself to the
hospital. Needless to say he still had to go back later and finish the job.
Scott also liked to tear things apart and put them back together to see how they
worked. His siblings said he did this "all the time." What started as a boy
being curious later turned into a lifelong career.
Scott graduated from Clarion High School in 1977. After high school, Scott
attended Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to be an automotive
technician. After college, Scott returned home to Clarion and started his 40
plus year career in automotive repair.
Scott and Linda met in high school and became the best of friends. The type of
friends that were content driving around on gravel roads while listening to
music. Scott came home every weekend from college to spend time with Linda and
his friends, but it wasn't until he came back to Clarion for good that he asked
Linda to be his wife. Scott married Linda Marie Ott on January 10, 1981 at the
First United Methodist Church in Clarion. Scott and Linda's friends pooled
together enough money so they could enjoy a short honeymoon in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
They even splurged and got them some wine and champagne to celebrate. Scott and
Linda brought two children into their loving home, Patrick Russell and Katie
Marie.
Scott's greatest blessing in life was his family and friends. Scott took great
pride in helping others. You learn that through conversations with his family,
friends, and his customers. If anyone needed his help he was right there willing
to lend a hand.
Pat recalls several favorite memories and time spent with his Dad. For Father's
Day one year, Pat and Scott rode their motorcycles to Newton, Iowa to the races.
It rained all the way there and back but they still managed to have a great time
together even with the nasty sunburn they acquired at the races and the near
miss with a tornado in Blairsburg. They also took several weekend trips to
Okoboji for motorcycle rallies. They stopped at a restaurant on the way and
noticed on the menu that you could get a 27 ounce t-bone steak. They both looked
at each other and agreed they would give it a shot. They managed to polish off
the steak, the potato and some beers. Pat also spent four-five years going to
work with his Dad. He was fortunate to work alongside him at Wright County
Motors. Pat and Scott made many lasting memories working together after taking
over the family farm.
Katie also recalls several favorite memories. Katie was a Daddy's girl and her
Dad was her best friend but when her son Wyatt was born, Katie says that Scott
liked Wyatt better. Katie laughs about this and cherishes the relationship they
had. Katie loved the time she spent with her Dad going to Arkansas, exploring
the caves, gardening, and their Saturday morning grocery shopping trips. Another
thing they loved to do together is try and come up with different meal ideas.
Katie will forever be grateful for the time they spent together.
In November of 2013, Wyatt Scott came into this world and from that point
forward, Papa had a buddy for life. Scott spent all the time he could with
Wyatt. He would take Wyatt to different stores to get tractors for him to play
with. Wyatt, being so young, didn't realize what kind of reaction Papa would
have when he picked out a green John Deere tractor because Case IH tractors are
what is preferred in this family. Scott cringed at the thought but because he
was the best Papa around so he bought it anyway. Scott ended up buying a few
more John Deere tractors but as Wyatt got older he did start to tease him about
his choice in tractors. Scott and Wyatt would enjoy afternoons at the farm
riding the 4 wheeler, shooting off fireworks around the 4th of July and eating
their Shellsburg Colby Jack cheese together. A couple of years ago Wyatt got to
enjoy one of Scott's favorite things. Scott took Wyatt to the races in Joliet
for a weekend getaway, a memory that Wyatt will get to have with him forever. A
memory that Wyatt recalls is the trip to Arkansas that Scott, Katie and Wyatt
took. Wyatt says the best part about the trip was getting to swim at the hotel.
For many years, Scott enjoyed the trips he took to Joliet, Illinois with Linda
and good friends Steve and Mary Evans to watch the drag races. In Linda's
opinion, she and Mary were the best back seat drivers around and they may not
have made it anywhere if it weren't for the two of them. Steve really wanted to
race on the big track in Joliet but he stuck to racing in Humboldt with Scott as
his crew chief. For those of you that don't know Scott, he loved his
motorcycles. His most recent motorcycle was a Victory Cross Country. Scott took
many motorcycle trips to see his sister Christi and brother-in-law Harold in
Arkansas. Scott enjoyed riding and looking at the scenery. Scott would take off
for afternoon rides by himself or take the bike to work on nice days. He also
spent time riding with Pat when he had his own motorcycle or Steve and Mary. The
past few years, Scott has enjoyed the salmon fishing trips he took with his
friend Kevin in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In recent years Scott has turned his garage
into a place for family and friends to gather, drink beer and listen to Hair
Nation. Scott and Linda's good friend Barb would often send a text that simply
said "garage?" Scott and Linda would reply "yep" and Barb would be over. Many
memories were made socializing and drinking beer in the garage with family and
friends.
Scott is survived by his wife of 40 years, Linda of Clarion; son Patrick of
Clarion and girlfriend Nikki McMurray of Belmond; daughter Katie of Clarion;
grandchildren Wyatt, Addison, Hutchison and Nevi of Clarion and Belmond; brother
Rick (Nancy) McCormick of Lawrence, Kansas; sister Christi (Harold) Patterson of
Yellville, Arkansas; brothers-in-law Bob (Kim) Ott of Clarion and Dan Ott of
Clarion; nieces and nephews Matt (Roberta) McCormick and their son of New
Mexico, Tony McCormick of California, Karen (John) Watkins and children of
Kansas, Jimmy (Beth) Ott and children of Goldfield, IA, Jerri (Lance Gobeli) Ott
and children of Clarion, IA; along with many other beloved family members and
friends.
Scott is preceded in death by his parents Dean and Ruth McCormick;
parents-in-law Junior and Millie Ott; great niece Payton Millie Ott, and many
other relatives and friends who are dearly missed.