Ida Calhoun Scott

Ida Calhoun (Futch) Scott passed away peacefully on January 25th, 2024, in Frisco, Texas, at age 97, after a long ordeal with Alzheimer’s. Born on October 7th, 1926 at Fort Sill, OK, to Theodore Leslie Futch and Ida Reid Calhoun Futch, Ida was rich in friendships, widely traveled and passionate in helping others, especially children.

Ida was an only child and an Army brat whose early life was most remarkable for its sheer mobility. She attended 18 schools from kindergarten through high school in many states including Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, News York, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and finishing at West End High School in Nashville, TN. Early in life she developed an extraordinary ability to develop deep, enduring friendships despite her gypsy-like life. She became a prolific and entertaining letter writer and corresponded regularly with scores of people, many for decades and decades. Prior to World War II she became a “pen pal” to several children her age in Europe, mostly Holland, and resumed correspondences with some after the War. How they reconnected after the war is a mystery as she herself had no fixed address and her pen pals had been scattered by war.

From the age of 14 she was determined to become an architect, at the time decidedly a man’s career, but she was determined. She studied in the School of Architecture at the University of Texas (Austin) and later worked for a number of firms in Texas, New York, Massachusetts, Missouri, Florida and Texas, again, designing homes, apartments, churches, schools, commercial buildings and master planned communities. In addition to design work, she had a passion for the preservation and restoration of historic buildings. Ida was an early proponent of handicap accessibility and of what we now call mid-century modern furniture.

Her other consuming interests were history, genealogy, literature, photography, travel, volunteering and all things Scottish. Frequently these interests were quite intertwined.

One of her first “big” trips at age 12 was from New York to Hawaii by ship via the Panama Canal and San Francisco in 1939. She remained in Hawaii until shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Almost immediately after the war she traveled in France, Germany, Denmark and behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia and Austria. After she retired she attended history and literature classes for several years at Oxford and Cambridge, England, and Edinburgh, Scotland. Other places she traveled include Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Indonesia, Australia and again Europe.

Ida never sought recognition, but her volunteer work was very much appreciated; she received many awards, which were found in the back of a bottom drawer. A partial list of the organizations she volunteered with include Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, AΔΠ Sorority, Fort Worth Museum of Science & History, Christ Episcopal Church (Tarrytown, NY), Grace Episcopal Church (Kirkwood, MO), St. Matthews Episcopal Church (Austin, TX), Austin Children's Museum, Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, Alexander Architectural Archive (UT Austin), The Settlement Club (Austin, TX), where she was known to the girls as “The Picture Lady”, Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farm (Austin, TX), Heritage Society of Austin, Historic Cold Spring Village (Cape May, NJ). In addition, she was active in the History Club of Austin, the Austin Scottish Country Dancers and several Scottish Clan groups including Clans Colquhoun, Robertson and Stewart.

Through her long and interesting life she accumulated a large volume of letters, books, photographs, research and other things of historical interest. In the later years of her life she spent countless hours sorting and cataloging what she considered of value and donated them to numerous appropriate institutions. Genealogy research went to the Odom Genealogy Library, Moultrie, GA. Letters written in the days and months after the attack on Pearl Harbor by friends who were there went to the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, TX. Letters from her Dutch pen pals went to the Briscoe Center for American History at UT Austin. Her doll collection went to the Mazza Museum at the University of Findlay, Findlay, OH. Books went to a number of libraries. Historical architectural photographs went to local museums and preservation societies.

Perhaps because she herself was an only child and benefitted from a large support network, she played a special role in the lives of many children, sort of a super Aunt, providing love, encouragement, support and cultural enrichment. She wrote to many frequently and was keen on remembering special occasions..

Ida is preceded in death by so many she cared so deeply about. In addition to her parents, her beloved step-father, George Evans Burritt, her maternal grandparents, Tyler & Ida Reid Calhoun, her husband, Donald Wallace Scott, 21 of her 23 first cousins and her 3 half siblings, David Futch, Ellen Futch Turner and Katherine Futch. Ida is survived by her two sons, Hugh and Craig Scott, 3 grandchildren, 2 step grandchildren, her nieces Karen Burpo, Suzanne Carter and nephew John Mark Scott.

In lieu of flowers, donations to any local library, history museum or children’s museum would be appropriate and most appreciated.