As Scott's family, we want to celebrate him by telling you more about the person he was during his brief life. Scott was born in Pomona, California in 1969, and moved around a lot during his growing up years. In spite of, or maybe because of the instability in his early years, Scott became determined to always excel at whatever he took on, whether that was as a husband, father, or firefighter.

Scott joined the Navy at 18, and went on to serve as an Admiral's Briefer at the Pentagon (DC), an Intelligence Analyst in Virginia Beach, VA, and later as a Head Instructor, Aviation War Specialist, and Systems Analyst. Before being honorably discharged in 2000, Scott organized a team to run the 1998 Boston Marathon to benefit Boston Children's Hospital.

In 2000, Scott moved to Houston, Texas, where he enrolled in the Houston Fire Department Academy. After graduating, he joined the Houston Fire Department (HFD) in March of 2003, and also worked with the Cy-Fair Fire Department's Duty Crew. During this time, he met Malaika Martin. They later married, and have two sons, Nathan and Travis. As those of you who worked with Scott know, he was entirely devoted to his family. He even home-schooled both boys for 3 years around his HFD schedule. His life truly revolved around his family, and his firefighter brothers. We often commented to Scott that none of us (wife, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, aunts) had ever witnessed anyone who was as focused on being a good husband and father as he was.

It was so incredibly devastating in February of 2017 when Scott was diagnosed with incurable stage 4 Renal Cell Carcinoma. It seemed so unfair to him, his family, especially the young boys, and his firefighter brothers. Scott determined to survive as long as possible, and fought hard for almost 3 years to keep ahead of the cancer. He survived so many life-threatening incidents during his battle, brought on by the treatments and effects of the relentless cancer. While it was difficult to plan fun times with family during those years, Scott loved going to the beach, and we were able to have several family weekends at rented beach houses in Surfside Beach. He mostly had to stay on the deck in the shade, and watch the boys having fun in the surf, but he could rest and refocus during those times.

Throughout his battle, he and Malaika kept the boys informed as different cancer-related events happened to try to prepare them for his leaving. He worked to put everything possible in place for his family, including inviting his mother-in-law, Nancy, to move in with them, and remodeling a room to make that possible even though he had to do it in stages due to the cancer. We don't know how he found the strength to accomplish so much...determination! Or as the slogan is at HFD Station 77, "Attitude is Everything".

Scott reluctantly retired from HFD in June of 2018, due to his growing disability from the cancer. However, don't think he gave up supporting his firefighter brothers! He recently worked to organize the Tapout Cancer Texas charity team to participate in the 2020 annual Houston Marathon, raising money and firefighter cancer awareness in cooperation with the HFD Firefighters Union and Texas Oncology.

Scott has left this fleeting life, and moved on to the next realm. We are comforted in our sadness by the joy he brought to our lives, and the amazing legacy he left to all those whose lives he touched.

The public is invited to attend a memorial service which will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, October 24, at Klein Funeral Home - CyFair Northwest, 9719 Wortham Boulevard, Houston, TX 77065.

At the request of the family, please consider a memorial donation in Scott's name to Firefighters Helping Firefighters ( https://firehelpingfire.org/donate/ ) or the HPFFA Charitable Foundation ( https://www.local341.org/charity ).