This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Most Mormons remember LDS apostle Richard G. Scott as one who would stare directly into the camera when giving his General Conference sermons, speaking deeply about eternal principles in an even-pitched voice.
Offering a joke or a humorous anecdote? Almost never.
"I wish people could have seen that side of him," Michael Scott said of his father, who died Tuesday at age 86. "His sense of humor was always there. ... He loved to laugh."
Richard Scott's funeral is set for Monday at 11 a.m. in the famed Tabernacle on LDS Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City.
The apostle delighted in telling jokes, even repeatedly, son Michael Scott said Wednesday, and his jesting persisted even in the hospital and near the end of his life.
At a missionary conference in Mexico, the son said, his dad noted all the young men and women sitting quietly, waiting for him to speak.
When he got to the pulpit, Scott warmed up his listeners with a few funny stories before the meeting began to get the missionaries laughing and smiling.
The senior Scott always could laugh about himself and his failings.
Richard Scott, a nuclear engineer, was "a handyman who feared no project," recalled his son, a Houston-based mechanical engineer, but also made some hilarious mistakes — such as putting in a new home circuit breaker and knocking out power to the whole neighborhood or hooking up a toilet with hot rather than cold water.
"When we lifted the toilet's lid in the winter," the son noted with a chuckle, "steam would pour out."
The LDS apostle, who was fourth in line for the church's presidency, never perceived a conflict between his Mormon faith and science.
"Science permeated everything he did," Michael Scott said. "His library contained a surprising number of books about the universe and the cosmos. He loved studying. He had no internal conflicts about such issues."
Michael Scott's parents were devastated by the loss of their 2-year-old son, Richard, after open-heart surgery and daughter, Andrea, who died at childbirth. But rather than becoming bitter, they used the losses to draw the family closer.
"It seemed to entrench their faith and devotion further," the son recalled. "We talked about it all the time."
Having two children "on the other side," Michael Scott said, "provided a powerful motivation [for our family] to live in a way so that we can be with them again."
Mormons believe that marriages and family relationships can last into eternity.
The elder Scott never wanted to "follow the crowd," Michael Scott said. "He was unique in the way he approached any task. ... He always asked: Is there a better way?"
How would he want to be remembered?
"Honestly, I don't think he would want to be remembered at all," the son said. "He would want to be invisible."
The apostle wanted only to be "a tool in the hands of the Lord," Michael Scott said, "and then get out of the way."
Twitter: @religiongal —
Funeral services set for Monday
The funeral for LDS apostle Richard G. Scott is set for Monday at 11 a.m. in the Tabernacle on LDS Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City.
Services will be open to those ages 8 and older.
Temple Square gates and the Tabernacle will open at 9:30 a.m., according to an LDS Church news release. Those wishing to attend should be in their seats by 10:30 a.m.
The funeral will be broadcast live on a number of outlets, including LDS.org, KSL-TV and BYUtv.
Afterward, a private burial service is planned at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park in Salt Lake City.