U. S. District Court Judge Scott Olin Wright passed away July 11, 2016, in Kansas City. Born on January 15, 1923 in Haigler, Nebraska, Scott was the second of six children — all delivered in the same farmhouse — to Jesse and Martha Wright. Scott’s large family stood out because Jesse and everyone in Martha’s family attended college, as did each of Scott’s siblings. But an education during the Depression guaranteed nothing, and after losing the Nebraska farm to foreclosure, Scott’s parents re-located the family to rural Livingston County, Missouri. Had it not been for the Depression, Scott probably would have become a rich Republican Nebraska farmer. Or not. Unquestionably, Scott’s family circumstance informed his devotion to the less fortunate and his keen devotion to fair play. Upon graduation from Chillicothe High School, Scott enrolled at Central Methodist College in Fayette, Missouri, but then enlisted in the Navy the day after completing his sophomore year in 1942, and began training in the V-5 program to become a dive bomber. Once Scott received his wings, he chose to enter the Marine Corps in order to accelerate his overseas deployment. Ultimately, Scott was stationed in the South Pacific where he patrolled for Japanese submarines. Scott was discharged in 1946 and immediately enrolled at MU. Not waiting for an undergraduate degree, Scott was admitted to MU Law School in 1947 and graduated in 1950, with President Truman delivering the commencement address. Scott’s served as City Attorney of Columbia and as Boone County Prosecuting Attorney, where his duties brought him into contact with future U. S. Senator Tom Eagleton. Scott left the prosecutor’s office in 1959 to begin private practice with close friends Ed Brown and Herb Willbrand. Scott loved to try cases to juries. One of his most prized cases was one in which he represented a husband in an “alienation of affections” case and won the sizable verdict of $1.00. Even so, by 1979, he had collected record verdicts in Boone, Cooper, Adair and Callaway Counties. He married Shirley Walther in 1972, and in 1979, Senator Eagleton recommended to President Carter that Scott become a federal judge. Upon confirmation, Scott became one of the most popular (and controversial) federal judges in Kansas City, both for his devotion to doing what he regarded as the right thing, and for his peculiar vocabulary. Scott’s contribution to Missouri’s legal community can best be observed through his many fine law clerks, who have remained steadfast in their commitment to Scott’s remonstrance that they exemplify the professional practice of law. Scott made it to work every single day until the fall of 2014, when his health suddenly began to fail. He is survived by his wife, Shirley, his brother Jess of Blair, Nebraska, his two step-children, Donna Baiotto of Raytown, Missouri, and Skip Walther of Columbia, Missouri, six grandchildren, five great grandchildren, and countless colleagues, friends and stories. Contributions can be made to the Scott Wright Scholarship Fund at the University of Missouri Law School or to St. Luke’s Hospice, Kansas City, MO.
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