Scott passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack on December 6, 2018, in his home in Fort Collins, Colorado at the age of 66. Scott’s life began on May 25th 1952 in Astoria, Oregon; he was born to George John and Edith Catherine (Yates) Cramer. Scott grew up in Boulder, Colorado where he attended Sacred Heart School and graduated from Boulder High School in 1970.
He developed many wonderful relationships during these formative years which he carried with him for the rest of his life; even his first grade teacher, Sister Marie Greaney, BVM, continued to be a dear friend throughout his life. Being a planner since birth, Scott came to the realization at the tender age of four that he would eventually become a lawyer or a priest. He wasn’t cut out to be a priest, so he became a lawyer.
Although Scott spent his freshman year at Washington State University, he graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1974. He spent his junior year abroad at Lancaster University, where he fell in love with England, joined the crew team, backpacked through Europe and made life long friends. He returned to Europe to do his Masters at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), earning his MS in International Relations. Scott then received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Houston Law Center in 1980. During his time in law school he was one of the founding editors and Editor-in-Chief of the Houston Journal of International Law; a scholarship was made in his honor due to his great contributions to the journal.
Scott started his law career in Houston, Texas at Richie & Greenberg as a litigator. Soon thereafter, he joined Pennzoil Company as an International Negotiator/Counsel. On his 30th birthday he successfully negotiated the North Sea oil lease for Pennzoil. He also documented the first-ever proposal presented to the People’s Republic of China, providing access to South China Sea exploration.
In 1984 he joined Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) starting as Senior Corporate Counsel, and in 1989 was promoted to General Counsel, Vice President and Secretary of the European Headquarters and moved to the Netherlands. Scott drafted the first environmental policies and codes which were eventually adopted by the European Union to be the basis of environmental law. Many of his colleagues and neighbors from this time remain his friends.
Scott transferred back to Houston in 1993 and continued to work for BFI as Senior Counsel until 1997. With a lifelong dream of becoming general counsel of a publicly traded company, and with his children now at the ages of 3 and 7 years old, Scott decided it was time to find a wholesome family environment and moved his family to Wisconsin to assume the position of General Counsel, Vice President and Secretary of Superior Services, Inc. After a brief stint working at Regal Beloit Corporation as Senior Legal Counsel, in 2006 he became Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Bucyrus International. In 2010 Scott accepted the position of Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Magnetek. In 2015 he was an integral part of negotiations to sell the company, while simultaneously battling tongue cancer in Chicago, of which he was a survivor at the time of his death.
On May 17, 1986 Scott married his longtime sweetheart of 10 years, Lisa Stratton Hansen, in Dallas, Texas. Their mutual love of travel, reading, politics, architecture, music and art was their life bond. Scott’s curiosity took Lisa to places she never could have imagined. For Scott, being the patriarch of his family was his most important role in life. Their daughter Alison, was born in 1989, and their son Colin in 1993. In Alison, Scott saw a miniature version of himself; they shared personality traits, mannerisms, hobbies and passions. Innumerable times were spent debating and arguing over ideas, politics, and opinions; in addition endless hours were spent in deep conversations, often late into the night, about the meaning of life, philosophizing about the world and the universe and everything in-between. Scott and Colin shared a mutual love for skiing, nature, sports, music, cars, traveling, and of course the Green Bay Packers. Scott always cherished sharing his passions, expertise and wonderment of life with Colin. The two recently shared a magnificent experience together when visiting Mesa Verde National Park. It was Scott’s second time visiting the park with over a 50 year separation between the two visits and Colin’s first. The love that Scott had for Colin held no bounds. Although he would never admit it, the family dog, Barkley, was arguably the favorite of Scott’s children. With his unquenchable thirst for learning and discovering, Scott made his family life one big adventure.
Because he refused to retire, Scott took a “sabbatical” in November 2015. Lisa and Scott together designed and built their dream house in Fort Collins and Scott excitedly returned to Colorado, a place that he always loved and cherished from his childhood. They enthusiastically embraced their new home by attending local concerts and taking trips around the state. His biggest joys were spending time with his family and reconnecting with old friends. Due to Scott’s lust for education he accepted a Visiting Professorship at Mykolas Romeris Law School in Vilnius, Lithuania in the summer of 2018. Scott and Lisa took this opportunity to travel, with plans to continue their world exploration in 2019. Showing his love of nature, words, and international business, Scott gave each of his students a bookmark with the quote, “Enter the forest, and the boundaries of nations are forgotten” ~ Enos Mills.
Those who knew Scott know that he was a citizen of the world; that paired with his appreciation for knowledge made him a truly cultural individual. Scott believed that, “culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit,” – Jawaharial Nehru. Above all, Scott was a wordsmith with a quick wit. His passion for words transcended his work life into his personal life. No matter if it was poetry, musical lyrics, or descriptions in historical and philosophical texts, he cherished the written word. He appreciated design. Whether with art, architecture or fashion, he was always a pioneer and trendsetter. His eclectic taste is due to his extensive amount of traveling, connecting with people from all walks of life, and immersing himself in new cultures. Food was a passion, and Scott was a critic.
A lifelong lover of nature, Scott reveled in every opportunity possible to envelop himself in the great outdoors. Growing up in Boulder, Scott was introduced to the wilderness. At a young age he was camping, snow skiing, hiking and rock climbing; at 14 years old he climbed the Flat Irons. Though these loves never faded, as he grew older he developed additional enthusiasms for water-skiing, scuba diving, sailing and fly-fishing. One of Scott’s favorite pastimes was to quietly watch the sky. He tracked the stars and sent family and friends photographs of various clouds, at both sunrise and sunset. The sky was Scott’s muse.
While studying abroad in England, Scott’s mischievous nature once resulted in a conviction in a London court of being “silly.” His shenanigans did not stop after his youth. His childlike sense of wonder and curiosity created a vivacious goofball energy around him that was as infectious as his laughter. He was the best at surprises, always knowing the exact right gift to give, even to the extent of knowing better than the recipient of what they wanted. Scott connected with people from all walks of life, and enjoyed sharing his interest in sports and cars. He held weekly group texts during Green Bay Packer games – while yelling at the screen. With his brother Marc, Scott shared his admiration for Porches and together they twice attended the Porsche Rally in Monterey, California. Scott’s zest for life will be greatly missed.
Scott is survived by his beloved wife of 32 years, Lisa Hansen Cramer of Fort Collins, CO; his children, daughter Alison (Timothy van Diesen) Cramer of Rotterdam, the Netherlands and son Colin Cramer of Durango, CO; his mother, Edie (Grady) Bizzell of Kingsland, TX; his sisters, Marci (John) Whitehead of Tucson, AZ and Gretchen (Gary) Mercier of Austin, TX; his brother, Marc (Beth Chapman) Cramer of Portland, OR; Scott was preceded in death by his father, George Cramer.
There will be a Celebration of Scott’s Life at Chautauqua in Boulder, Colorado on May 25, 2019. Specific details will be announced.
As a philanthropist Scott donated his time and money to many charities; therefore, in lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Scott’s name to:
Houston Journal of International Law*,
Wisconsin Equal Justice Fund or
The Sierra Club.
*Please make checks payable to the UH Law Foundation, note “Houston Journal of International Law” in the memo line, and mail to:
University of Houston Law Center
c/o Kristan Whiters
4604 Calhoun Road, Suite 30
Houston, TX 77204-6060
To separate myself from space
I gave the water pool my face:
To separate myself from time
I gave the stars my soul to climb.
~Archibald Macleish 1954
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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