Donnie “Don” Gene Scott
August 23, 1940 ~ August 8, 2025
Donnie “Don” G. Scott, 84, Sioux Falls, SD, passed away peacefully on Friday, August 8, 2025, at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, after a years-long battle with a rotating lineup of health challenges – all of which he met with his signature stubbornness and dry wit.
A private family service will be held at a later date.
Donnie “Don” Gene Scott was born on August 23, 1940, in Tulsa, OK, to Ernest and Jennie (Camp) Scott. The youngest of four children, he spent his early years zigzagging across the American West thanks to his dad’s job with the Army Corps of Engineers — from Durango, CO, to Albuquerque, NM, Sand Springs, OK, and later on, when his parents divorced (not to worry, they remarried each other years later), he eventually landed in Beverly Hills, CA, where he graduated from high school (yes, that Beverly Hills High).
While in California, Don married Charlene Hansen of Philip, SD, and after welcoming their daughter Valerie Ann, the two relocated to Pierre, SD. After their divorce, fate (and a well-meaning cousin named Phyllis, whom Don worked with at the SD Department of Education as a Data Analyst), intervened when Don was set up on a blind date with Eva Louise Hieb. Eva had declared she was content becoming an “old maid” — a plan Phyllis happily foiled. Don and Eva married, settled in Fort Pierre, and raised two children, David and Elizabeth. The couple had grand dreams of RVing across the U.S. post-retirement, but life rerouted them to Sioux Falls, where they chose to be closer to family — and traded road trips for grand puppies (and kitties), home-cooked meals, a slightly smaller lawn to mow, and an ever-expanding zoo of rescue animals.
Don was a quiet soul with simple joys — classic cars, chess, road trips on his motorcycle to the Black Hills with son David in tow, and a good auto review show. He was the kind of dad who patiently read almost every evening to daughter Elizabeth her favorite children’s book (The Aristocats) and later years drilling complicated words to her every spelling bee season, and never once complaining when her clarinet practice drowned out the evening news. He also attended many of his kids’ school events, including David’s football games and track meets, being a chaperone for Elizabeth’s band competitions and even judging for her FHA regional and state competitions. He loved animals — even the ones most people wouldn’t (yes, including rattlesnakes). The family home was always filled with wagging tails, meows, chirps, bubbles, and the occasional hiss.
Don had a dry sense of humor, a gentle demeanor, and a heart that made room for everyone — two-legged or four. He didn’t say much, but when he did, it mattered.
Don is survived by his wife of 52 years, Eva; his brother, Arthur Lloyd Scott; his children, Val (Scott) and Paul White, David and Dana (Black) Scott of Omaha, NE, and Elizabeth (Scott) and Lance Wilkinson of Sioux Falls, SD; and his grandchildren, Megan and Jared White.
Don was preceded in death by his parents, Ernest and Jennie (Jerrie) Scott; his sister, Thelma Ann (Scott) Confer; his brother, Ernest Kim Scott; and sister-in-law, Carol (Stann) Scott.
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