Keith Hill Scott

On the morning of February 1, 2020, our beloved brother and friend, Keith Hill Scott, was called home after being critically ill. He was 60 years old.

Keith was born at Bethesda, Maryland. He was preceded in death by his father, Samuel Howard Scott and his mother, Barbara Scott of Des Moines, WA. He is survived by his younger brother, Kevin Scott and sister-in-law, Phatsarin “Nok” Scott of Des Moines, WA, his partner of 25 years, Claire Mick of Lakewood, WA and extended family and friends.

A longtime resident of the greater Tacoma area, Keith grew up in Des Moines, WA, graduating from Mt Rainier High School in 1978.  He was also a graduate of Highline College, Central Washington University (CWU) and The San Francisco School of Mortuary Science.

Keith had boundless energy and drive and started his work life at an early age.  His first job was mowing lawns for people in the neighborhood. He was soon employed as a short order cook for the XL Sooper grocery store snack bar in Normandy Park, WA.  After high school, Keith worked as a roving teller for Seattle-First Bank. While attending CWU, Keith worked as a juvenile detention officer for Yakima County. After graduation, he spent a few years as a policeman in Algona and Pacific. After law enforcement, he worked for Boeing as an offload buyer. In 1995, Keith became a licensed funeral director and embalmer and worked for several years in Tacoma for the Gaffney Funeral Home. He finished out his work life at Boeing as a spares inventory planner and flight simulator support specialist from which he recently retired from.

A certified character, Keith reveled at being the center of attention. He had a keen wit, boundless creativity and a wonderful and far reaching sense of humor which he deployed generously to those around him.  He genuinely enjoyed being around people and loved to joke with and hassle them. He had the gift of gab and always knew someone wherever he went.

Keith was born to drive and lived a life in perpetual motion. As a colicky baby, his father used to drive him around in the car to comfort and, more importantly, to quiet him. This led to a lifelong obsession with motorized vehicles of which he had too many to count.  He loved riding motorcycles and going on road trip adventures with his friends.

Keith also enjoyed cooking and entertaining. Being big hearted, he always organized holiday events and insured that anyone who did not have another place to go was invited so they would not be alone for the holidays. He was the master of the grill and loved to find any occasion for a BBQ and a party.

Always willing to help people, Keith was a positive force of change in many of the lives that he came in contact with. He will be fondly remembered for spreading his unique brand of “Keith-ness” to the world around him.

Keith’s family wishes to give a very special thank you to the health care team at St Joseph’s Hospital in Tacoma for the superb and compassionate care and concern given to Keith and his family while he was critically ill and especially while he was under palliative care.

Please be advised that the celebration of life event for Keith, originally scheduled for Sunday, March 29th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Glen Acres Golf and Country Club, has now been cancelled until further notice due to the impending health crisis. Please feel free to share your favorite memories and stories of Keith on this site’s tribute page.