Heavens' arms opened wide this week. After a long battle with esophageal cancer, Scott Tyson succumbed at home with his cherished wife Sylvia at his side. Just one week earlier, Scott and Sylvia also lost sweet Rosa, their beloved Great Pyrenees dog.

Scott was born in Houston, Texas, and was the second of seven children. He spent his mischief-making years with his sibs in the fields of Texas, hunting, fishing, and fooling around. After high school he went to Sam Houston State University where he earned a bachelors degree in agriculture and horticulture. He then entered the Peace Corps and served in Africa. Back home, he put his degree to work teaching middle school agriculture. While not his calling, teaching was a life changer. How much his students learned is anyone's guess since his eyes were on the "angel" he saw in his classroom doorway. Sylvia, another teacher, captivated him from the start. They were married in 1983.

Putting their entrepreneurial skills to work, they left teaching and began a landscaping business. Never aiming small – they were, after all, based in Texas – by the time they retired in 2008, their successful commercial landscape business spanned 19 states.

Retiring in Portland, they fit right in to their new neighborhood. Scott, Sylvia, and Rosa were regulars in their local park. Scott lent his considerable talents to neighbors needing a hand with plants, patios, margaritas, and Texas-sized steaks.

Scott is survived by his wife Sylvia, his mother, six siblings, two children, and is predeceased by his son and father.

Services and burial will be held in Tomball, Texas, and a celebration of life will be held in his Portland neighborhood at dates to be determined.