Stanley G Scott
April 21, 1928-Aug. 19, 2024
Menlo Park, CA
Stanley G Scott died peacefully in his sleep on August 19, 2024 at the age of 96. He passed away in Menlo Park at his home of 64 years. Stan was born on April 21, 1928 in Salt Lake City to George and Lucile Scott. He had a brother and a sister. Shortly thereafter the family moved to Sacramento where his father was a statistician for the US Department of Agriculture. Stan attended McClatchy high school where he played on the baseball, football and basketball teams and was Student Body President. Stan graduated from Stanford University in 1951 and subsequently moved to Los Angeles to work in the burgeoning aircraft and defense industries. His experience there seeded an appreciation but also grave concern for the destructive power being created by the newly coined Military Industrial Complex. That concern deepened over the years and led him to publish “A Winged and Garlanded Nike,” an ominous novel on the history and dangers of the uncontrolled defense industry.
Upon moving back to the Bay Area in the late 50’s, Stan met his wife of 58 years Willis ‘UpC” Grathwol. Stan and UpC raised four boys and spent decades on their favorite pastimes including Stanford football, skiing at Lake Tahoe, sailing on the Bay and camping in the high sierra. Stan had embarked on a long career with Ames Research, a division of NASA. He conducted research and designed experiments to study the atmosphere as part of the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs as well as the risks to the ozone layer. His experiments even flew in the nose cone of the U-2 spy plane.
Above all, Stan was kind, wise and generous - always giving and rarely asking for anything for himself. Stan is survived by his four sons - Jonathan, Kevin, Thomas and Brennan and 10 grandchildren - as well as his constant feline companion - Pinky. He was predeceased by his wife UpC. There will be a private reception for Stan. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to one of his favorite environmental groups such as The Audubon Society or The Peninsula Humane Society.
