John T. Scott

CHAMPAIGN – John T. Scott, PhD, 91, of Champaign died at 5:25 p.m. Easter Sunday (April 1, 2018) at University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, Iowa.

Funeral services for the Army veteran will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Wesley United Methodist Church, 1203 W. Green St., Urbana. The Rev. Paul Unger and the Rev. Dan King Crede will officiate. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the church. Burial will be in Glen Cemetery, Paxton.

Dr. Scott was born October 6, 1926 in their farm home near Melvin, Illinois, eldest son of John Thackeray Scott and Esther Margaret Punke Scott. He married Barbara May Attebery on February 7, 1953, in Hillsboro. She survives.

Also surviving are his three children: John Roderick (Molly Fay), Anne Marlene (Loarn), and Carl Attebery. He was blessed with nine grandchildren: Megan, John, Rory, Rachael, Keegan, Mairi, Barbara, Victoria, and William; and four great-grandchildren: Felicity, Jeriah, Callum, and Lochlan. Also surviving is a brother, Thomas Scott, plus a host of nieces, nephews, and in-laws, great and grand.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Harold Scott.

John was educated in a one-room school within walking distance of his family farm near Elliott, and graduated from Gibson City High School where his career was almost cut short when in gym class the coach pushed him backwards into the pool to learn to swim. Later in college he did learn to swim, sort of.

He farmed with his father for several years where he raised Chester White hogs and Angus cattle which he showed at county fairs and the Illinois State Fair where he earned red, blue and Grand Champion ribbons. The profits from these enterprises and scholarships helped him earn his Bachelor of Science Degree in Animal Science at the University of Illinois, with highest academic honors. While at the University he also became an avid tennis and handball player and enjoyed playing duplicate bridge.

John was commissioned as a Lieutenant (later promoted to Captain) in the United States Army and deployed to Europe where he became an oil depot commander at Bucey near the village of Étain east of Verdun, France. John, Barbara, and Johnny enjoyed many sights and experiences in France, Switzerland, and Germany.

Back in the US he worked as a farm manager and appraiser in LaSalle County, and joined the Illinois and the National Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. The family met many people in the Ottawa Methodist Church, some of whom have remained lifelong friends.

The experience of the importance of economics in farm management gave John the incentive to go to graduate school at Iowa State University, Ames, in Economics rather than Agronomy. He returned to his Alma Mater "Illinois" as a tenured Professor of Production Economics, Farm Management, and Statistics, where for the next 30 years he produced over 300 journal articles, and publications, many of them landmarks; developed a new statistical method called Factor Analysis Regression; received the highest award given by the College of Agriculture, the Funk Award; and was awarded the Farm Bureau Highest Merit for development of the farm property tax system for the State of Illinois which is still in use today.

Over the years he taught several hundred undergraduate students, many graduate courses, and was the major professor for a number of graduate students. He consulted, taught, and gave seminars around the world: Indonesia, Taiwan, Senegal, Yugoslavia, Japan, and Brazil. He testified before the Atomic Energy Commission about the Clinton Nuclear Generating Station, and testified in bankruptcy court hearings on the level of interest rates in bankruptcy.

After retirement Dr. Scott remained a Member of the Appraisal Institute (MAI), the highest professional appraisal designation, and worked as an Appraiser and a Realtor for farmland, development land, commercial property such as nursing homes, hotels, railroad terminals, and retail properties.

John's avocation was woodworking; he hand-crafted cradles for each of his children's families with the walnut harvested from his father-in-law's farm. He gardened and donated hundreds of tomato plants to the Wesley Food Pantry. He had been active as a member of Methodist Churches over the years in Iowa and Illinois, in worship and as a financial and property Committee Chair.

Family, friends, University, and community continued to be important to John. Memorials in his honor may be made to the Wesley United Methodist Church and Foundation, 1203 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801, or to the UI Heart and Vascular Center Development Fund, One West Park Road, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, or electronically at: givetoiowa.org (select U of I Heart and Vascular Center Development Fund).

Contact Baier Family Funeral Services at http://www.baierfuneralservices.com/obituary/john-scott-phd