Longtime Valrico Aviator Dies at Age 64

Family and friends are celebrating the life of George "Mack" McAlister Scott, 64, who died June 5. 

Scott was born in Montgomery, AL on Sept. 16, 1948, the second son of Air Force Col. Walter and Eva Scott. He graduated from Choctawhatchee High School in Fort Walton Beach in 1966 and enlisted in the Navy as a corpsman in 1971. 

He attended Florida State University on the GI Bill, where he received his degree in nursing and met the love of his life, Donna, who he married in 1976. Upon graduation in 1975, and after Officer Candidate School, his first assignment took him to Naval Hospital Balboa in San Diego, CA. 

Scott's career in the Navy Nurse Corps took the family to many duty stations, including Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Naval Air Station Pensacola, where their second son was born. 

After retirement from the Navy in 1994, Cmdr. "Mack" Scott settled in River Hills where he enjoyed a second career as a nurse practitioner and part-time chef, golfer, travel enthusiast, photographer, salt water aquarist, shooting sportsman, vintner and aviator. 

He loved to fly and enjoyed his 1976 Beechcraft Bonanza, "Princess," which he owned with his friend, Robin Cooper. 

Scott was also a 10-year cancer survivor and, while he struggled to keep his medical certification to pilot his Bonanza, he served others with medical needs through Angel Flight.

He is survived by his wife; his sons, Jeff Littlejohn and George "Mack" Scott Jr.; his brother, Walter "Scotty" J. Scott III; and three grandchildren. 

An avid and lifelong flyer, some of his ashes will be dropped from a plane by his "pilot buddies" over HEVVN ("Heaven") Intersection, which was often a part of his flight plan. 

He will also be buried with full military honors at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell at a date yet to be determined. 

Donations may be made in Scott's name to Angel Flight Inc., 1515 E. 71st St., Suite 312, Tulsa, OK 74136.