Bruce Milton Scott

Born in Hardin, Montana to Frank Max Scott and Sarah Grace Jeanette (Burnley) Scott, Bruce spent his first years living amongst the Crow and Blackfoot people of the Northern Great Plains. As an adult he recalled early memories of searching for dinosaur bones and picnics in the Black Hills with his parents and older sister, Jane. Six-year-old Bruce and his family moved from the Great Plains to an apartment in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, IL. There, he attended school and sang in the Boys Choir at Saint Paul’s Church by the Lake. With the rest of the household working until evening, young Bruce often had the responsibility of starting dinner and other daily tasks at home. At age eleven, Bruce began working himself by making boxes in the Merchandise Mart and selling The Saturday Evening Post door to door.

The family moved to Arlington, Virginia when Bruce was thirteen. There he worked paper routes delivering The Washington Post, The Evening Star, and The Times Herald. In 1953 he graduated from Washington and Lee High School where he ran track, sang in the school choir and madrigal group, and was a member of the BDT fraternity. Bruce worked his way through high school as a house painter, soda jerk and short-order cook, and he continued working two more years in construction to save for college at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI). Around this time, Bruce suffered the loss of his parent’s marriage. The fragmentation of his family later compelled him to prioritize marriage and family in his own life. It was at a wedding in August of 1957 that Bruce met Mary Callie Trent. Nearly two years later, Bruce graduated from VPI as a member of the Corps of Cadets with a degree in Building Construction. He was then commissioned in the U.S. Army. He and Mary married a few weeks later on June 12, 1959. In November, the newlyweds traveled to El Paso, TX where Bruce reported for a six-month duty at the Cold War-era Fort Bliss missile installation. He was honorably discharged with the rank of 1st Lieutenant.

Upon returning to Virginia, Bruce and Mary set up their household in Falls Church. Soon after, Bruce opened his own construction contracting company with a small office in Annandale. His first project was a custom bookshelf, followed by a carport, an office supply store in Ballston, and a Lutheran church. It was during these years that their children, Julie and Jeff were born. For a few years, Bruce worked in sales for his father-in-law’s printing company, Cooper-Trent. The family moved next to Mary’s parents in Arlington and Bruce returned to the contracting business by re-establishing Bruce Scott Construction, Inc. During these years, Susan and John were born, the construction company grew, and Bruce was busy with professional associations and on vestry with The Falls Church.

Life for the Scotts may have appeared to be all that a young family would want, but Bruce and Mary were uneasy in their family life and began looking for a change. In 1974, their search led to the purchase of an acreage property in what their Arlington neighbors would call ‘the country’. Even more impactful was the move to Truro Church in Fairfax where Mary’s sister, Julie, and her family were attending. At Truro, Bruce and Mary encountered people who sought to invite God into all aspects of life. They experienced God-centered study, celebration, and relationship that changed their lives. As they learned to look to God to lead them, new ways of doing family, business, and community opened up to them.

Oakspring Farm, originally a dairy farm in Oakton and the family home until 2015, was the setting for raising their four children and launching them into adult life, celebrating weddings, welcoming grandchildren, and caring for aging parents. The “Blue House” on Hunter Mill Road was home to the family’s horses, geese, dogs and cats and it preserved a piece of local agricultural history with its barns and silo as pastures and farmhouses gradually disappeared across Northern Virginia. There, Bruce and Mary hosted community events like the Barn Bazaar, Truro Youth Group meetings, Young Life Clubs, TIPS (Truro International Program for Students), India Prayer Group meetings, and various community bible study groups. Bruce’s gift for mentoring brought many individuals to Oakspring to sit on the porch, walk or work around the barns or have a meal with the family. He also practiced mentoring in his role as CEO of Scott-Long Construction, Inc. both to employees and to individuals in area business. Bruce’s most important mentoring role was to his twelve grandchildren. He planned and led a special week in the summer called Grandkid’s Camp. It was a time of fun, vision casting, and instruction for his children and grandchildren enabling them grow in core beliefs and values. Over and over, he stressed the importance of bible study to the grandchildren, teaching them study methods and purchasing journals and study guides for them.

In 2015, Bruce and Mary moved next door to their son, John, and his family to what would be fondly called “Scott-land”. In recent years, Bruce continued singing with the Truro choir, painted, played golf with Mary, and supported her role in caring for her father’s golf course in Patrick County, VA. One year ago, the couple moved to The Woodlands Retirement Community.

Bruce Scott was a gentle man, thoughtful, truthful, committed, and compassionate. It is with the mystery of joy in grief that the family celebrates his life at his passing. Bruce had at least three brushes with death and his life was miraculously preserved: two instances of falling unconscious while driving on Northern Virginia highways, and also an advanced cancer diagnosis from which he survived fifteen years. We have seen God’s sustaining hand in Bruce’s life and rest in God’s perfect timing for his passing. He leaves behind his wife of sixty-three years, Mary Callie (Trent) Scott, his sister, Rebecca Jane (Scott) Sugars and her two daughters Janeal Marie Sugars and Martha Sue Sugars, as well as his four children and their families:

Julie King (Scott) Miracle and Keith Wayne Miracle

Sarah Katherine Miracle and Jeffery Edward Watson,

parents to Winnifred Jane Watson and Clark Alden Watson

Margaret Anne Miracle

Virginia Gwynn Miracle

Frank Jeffery Scott and Lori-Jo (Perillo) Scott

Andrew Joseph Scott and Hannah Grace (Sweeney) Scott

Thomas John Scott

Susan Hamilton (Scott) Patteson and Donald Douglas Patteson, III

Beau Douglas Patteson

Callie Chaworth Patteson

Samuel Max Patteson

Mary Katherine Patteson

John Burnley Scott and Elizabeth Broward (Bennett) Scott

John Burnley Scott, Jr.

Anna Broward Scott and fiancé Ryan Christopher Tillman

Bennett Cooper Scott

Selected Awards and Associations

National “Professional Constructor of the Year”, 1988, by the American Institute of Constructors

Named “Fellow” by American Institute of Constructors

Founder Northern Virginia Chapter of American Institute of Constructors

“Entrepreneur of the Year” in construction, 1990, by Ernst & Young, Merrill Lynch and Inc. Magazine

Northern Virginia Building Industry Association (Past President)

Annandale Junior Chamber of Commerce (Past President)

Christian Stewardship Ministries Advisory Council (Past Chairman)

Marymount University Board of Trustees (Past Member)

Associated Builders and Contractors of Virginia (Past Board member)

Dulles Task Force (past member)

The C.S. Lewis Institute (Past Board Member)

Truro Episcopal Church (Past Vestry Member)

The Falls Church (Past Jr. Warden of Vestry)

The Lamb Center (Past Board Member)

Young Life (Past committee member Metropolitan DC, Oakton, and Fairfax HS)