Obituaries

Although he told people that his birthday was April Fool’s Day, Thomas Scott Craig (Scotty) was born on June 15, 1944, in Oakland California. He passed away Tuesday, February 15, 2022, at the VA Hospital in Seattle from complications of diabetes. If his wishes have come true, he is now as a ghost trying to scare his many friends in the Northwest and around the world.

Scott was raised in Sacramento, California enjoying the benefits of a close-knit family during the postwar boom where his father, Leo Craig was a traveling salesman and his mother Gertrude, a stay-at-home mom, as was the fashion in those days. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Portland or as he would say “U. P. on the bluff”. A highlight of his college years was a year in Salzburg, Austria with Father Wheeler and a group of fellow students, many of whom he kept in touch with throughout his life.  Scott continued his education at California State in Hayward and the University of Arizona, where he enrolled in the program for complex systems. Scott decided after some reflection that he preferred simple systems and departed academic life for good.

While working in a bookstore in San Francisco he answered Uncle Sam’s call and entered the US Army where he was stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana during the Vietnam era.  After this difficult time, he moved to Seattle, home base for fifty years, where he became a beloved figure in the activities and local color of the Queen Anne and Greenwood neighborhoods.

His many endeavors included a spell as travel advisor for Holland America Lines, clerk at the USPS, and perhaps most memorably, as a food and recipe promoter for Thriftway Stores on Queen Anne, as well as West Seattle.  Staying true to his love for food, he worked at the Snow Goose produce stand in Skagit Valley during the season. Other activities included conducting marriage ceremonies as a member of the Universal Life church while running Bubba’s Bait and Bridal on the side.  Other pastimes included assisting his friend Mike Gill in his piano tuning business.  Scott was a tour guide at a nature preserve in Tucson until he was dismissed for misleading the passengers on the true facts of nature and local history. He told a good story, but they had to be taken with a grain of salt or maybe a bushel of salt.

Additional activities included working as a Greyhound call center manager in Arizona, where he was employee of the year before being admonished for hanging on the phone too long trading stories with folks who just wanted to know when the next bus was leaving. Travels abroad took him to Thailand where he ran a guest house in Chang Mai, excursions to Philippines, China, and considerable time in Mexico.

Scott was truly a man of the world – he enjoyed traveling and made many long-lasting friendships in every country he visited. He was quick-witted and loved to make people laugh. He enjoyed creating and experiencing art of all kinds and had several shows featuring his whimsical pieces of found art. He was an avid reader and book collector with an interest in history and art.  His wardrobe ranged from bib overalls to a pink suit and included a large variety of hats.  He was easily recognized as Capitaine T. Scotty Craig of the Riverboat Fille de joie in his captain’s hat paired with a Hawaiian shirt in the Greenwood neighborhood where he encouraged many to join him in a weekly coffee group.

Scott was handsome, intelligent, generous, funny and charming. He will be sorely missed by many including his brother Ted; sister-in-law LaVaughn; niece Sara; nephew Dan, and good friend Cindy Lyons. A shared stories session about Scott is in the planning stages.