When George Winfield Scott took his final breath just 70 days shy of his 102nd birthday, no one could have said he died too young. But he certainly did die young, having made the most of his final years by flourishing on the basketball court, the dance floor, as the oldest member of the Philadelphia Masters Track and Field Association and as a gold medal winner in the Penn Relays at the age 97.
George, affectionately known to all as Scotty, was born in South Philadelphia but lived most of his life in Hilltown, later moving to Doylestown and finally Ann’s Choice in Warminster, where he lived in his own apartment for 15 years before moving to its Memory Care Center when he turned 101.
Scotty’s lifelong passion was basketball, which he began playing on the streets of South Philly when he was 13 and didn’t stop until he turned 96, playing full court games throughout his 90s with men more than half his age at the Doylestown YMCA, baffling them with pinpoint passes, smothering defense and perhaps the only two-hand set shot they had ever seen.
It was at the Y where one day a teammate suggested he try track and field for the Philadelphias Masters Association, something he hadn’t done since high school in the 1930s. He went on to capture a bedroom’s worth of medals.
In 2009 at the age of 89, he won 15 gold and two silver medals at the combined Keystone Games and Senior Olympics. Among his events were the long jump, broad jump, shot put, hammer throw and the 100- and 200-meter sprints. Competing throughout his 90s, Scotty excelled at the National Masters Indoor Championships in Landover, Md., capturing gold in the 60- and 200-meter races, the long and triple jumps, the hammer throw, discus and shot put.
HIs prized accomplishment, however, was winning four consecutive gold medals in the 100-meter dash at the Penn Relays held at Franklin Field – securing his final gold at the age of 97.
Scotty was also a lifelong dancer, gracing the dance floor of the Telford VFW, Sellersville Moose and Perkasie Owls, and later, a mainstay with the Doylestown-based Swing-a-Longs. At Ann’s Choice, he and his girlfriend organized and ran monthly ballroom and jitterbug “sock hops” that often drew almost 100 dancers. In addition, he taught himself to play the organ, built one from scratch, and played with the Second Time Around Band at Ann’s Choice well into his 90s.
Scotty was also a Broadcast Pioneer. After specializing in radar and radio with the Air Force during World War II, he refined his skills at Temple University and was hired in the late 1940s by a fledgling television station in Philadelphia (Channel 3) where was worked as a transmitting engineer until he retired in the early ’80s.
The Penn Memory Center studied Scotty’s brain during his later years and upon his death he donated it to the center for further study. He also donated his body to the Humanity Gifts Registry at Penn for anatomical studies by the next generation of doctors.
Scotty is survived by a step-brother, Dr. Charles Dick, MD, of Cape May, a son, Jeffrey of Pittstown, N.J., a daughter, Kathleen of Ephrata, Pa., nine grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and his longtime girlfriend, Helen Helmuth of Ann’s Choice. He was preceded in death by his two wives, Ethel (Jones) and Dorothy (Bischoff), three sons, George, Michael and Thomas, and a daughter, Patricia Hoffman.
In lieu of a service, Scotty’s only wish was to sponsor one more dance at Ann’s Choice, which will take place on Saturday, Sept. 24 beginning at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a celebration of his life and dance for family and friends at the Doylestown YMCA Teen Center on Saturday, Oct. 15, from 5-9 p.m. For more information contact jeffscott626@gmail.com.
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