Nan M. Millar Scott

Nan was born in Mt. Vernon, NY on June 22, 1925 to Daniel Wilke and Agnes Napier Millar, Scottish immigrants with four Scottish-born children. She grew up with her four older siblings in Long Island, NY, living in the towns of Port Jefferson and Bellmore before graduating from Wellington C. Mepham High School (Class of ’43). High school was where she met the love of her life, Raymond Russell “Scotty” Scott. They married March 5, 1944, before he shipped out in the U.S. Army. While he was gone, Nan worked in a munitions plant as a “Rosie the Riveter” and later became a long distance telephone operator. She gave birth to their first daughter Roxann at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, CA.

After the war, Nan and Roxann moved with Sargeant Scott (later, Captain Scott) to Italy and Germany. While 8 months pregnant with their second child, Nan and 3-year-old Roxann were airlifted out of Germany aboard a troop transport plane with other pregnant military wives and their children, two nurses, and a doctor in case of any early deliveries. Nan and Scotty’s daughter, Jean Bruce, was born stateside at Fort Ord, Monterey, CA.

Nan was a loving wife and mother and made the family home wherever Scotty was stationed – New York, California, Washington, Georgia and Indiana. When Scotty retired in1963 they moved to Alhambra, then San Gabriel, and then Westminster, CA. In 1974 they moved to Anchorage AK, and then Victorville, CA in 1987. After her beloved Scotty’s death in 2002, Nan moved to Chula Vista, CA where she split her time between her daughters’ homes in Alaska and California. Together, they shared travel, crafting, painting, and gardening.

Nan was a force of nature and proved to be an avid traveler, card player, crafter, seamstress, painter, cook, baker, camper, rock hound and gardener. She participated in state fairs in California and Alaska and integrated her many talents into everyday life. She belonged to The Scottish Club (AK), The Japanese American Club (AK), the Retired Officer’s Club(s) (CA & AK), The Eagle River Crafters Club (AK), the Chugiak Painting Club (AK), the Chula Vista Red Hat Society (CA) and the Rolling Hills Garden Lunch Bunch (CA). She was president of the Hi ‘n Dri Garden Club (CA), and the Inland Empire Blind Club (CA). She was a Certified Master Gardener and became the District Director of the Road Runner District Garden Clubs.

At the age of 76 Nan began what was to be a long difficult journey with wet macular degeneration in both eyes. She participated in early clinical trials with photodynamic therapy and laser surgery. The disease left her legally blind and unable to do many of the things she loved most – reading, sewing, playing cards, cooking, baking, crafting and painting. Undeterred, she sought permission and was enrolled in the Davidson Program for Independence, part of the Junior Foundation for the Blind of America in Los Angeles. Most impressive was her fearless dedication to making the weekly round trip via train from Victorville to Union Station, LA before boarding a bus to get to the school for her Monday-Friday classes – solo. Attending the boarding school training program for adults, Nan worked tirelessly for a year to relearn how to navigate the world and reignite her passions, which now included learning to read and write Braille and to use a computer (equipped with JAWS, a computer screen reader that allows blind and visually impaired users to read the screen with a text-to-speech output). She mastered both along with mobility training and learned to set up her home and kitchen. She was acknowledged as a gifted and determined student as well as the oldest student to attend and graduate from the school.

Nan was preceded in death by her beloved husband Raymond R. (“Scotty”) Scott, and her siblings Jean Campbell Bruce Millar, Neil Bruce Millar, William A. Millar and George Millar. She is survived by her daughters Roxann Scott Kopischke and Jean Bruce Scott, their husbands Larry Kopischke and Randy Reinholz, her granddaughter Jessica Jean Kopischke, and her nieces and nephews Nancy Ann Barrett and Lana Leigh (Barrett) Owens, Tommy Scott, Penny Scott, Marion, Barbara Jean Scott, and Susan Scott.

Services for Nan M Scott will be held in the Little Chapel of Roses at Glen Abbey in Bonita, CA on Monday, February 23, 2015 at noon. She will be interred with her husband, Major Raymond R. Scott, U.S. Army Retired at Riverside National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to: The Foundation for the Junior Blind of America / Davidson Program for Independence.