Richard “Scott” York, 38, of Klamath Falls, a former Baker City resident, died March 10, 2002, at his home. He suffered a lifelong hereditary disease and had been awaiting a liver transplant for the past four years.
His funeral was at 4 p.m. today at the O’Hair & Riggs Funeral Chapel in Klamath Falls. The Rev. John Baund of the First Presbyterian Church officiated. Private burial was at Eternal Hills Memorial Garden. There was a reception afterward at the First Presbyterian Church in Klamath Falls.
He was born in Baker City on April 7, 1963, to Carl Lockwood York and Shara Lynn Loomis. He attended Baker schools and was active in the Boy Scout program.
After the death of their parents, Scott and his sister, Carol, moved to Klamath Falls in June 1979 where they lived with their loving grandparents, Gordon and Evelyn Loomis. He was a 1982 graduate of Klamath Union High School.
After graduation, he attended Western Oregon University at Monmouth and Willamette University at Salem. In 1987, he moved to Seattle, where he worked as the night manager for a hotel. He next moved to Calgary, Canada, where he attended the University of Calgary. He trained as a speed skater and also worked at several national and international speed skating and figure skating events.
He returned to Seattle and graduated from the International Air Academy in the early 1990s. He was immediately hired by United Airlines and worked as a ticket agent in San Francisco. In 1994, he moved to Atlanta, Ga., where he worked for Value Jet and another small regional carrier.
It was while in Atlanta that he worked on the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games committee. Because he was fluent in German, French and Dutch, he assisted the committee in the area of public relations.
In 1996, he became an international flight attendant for Northwest Airlines. He loved traveling the world and was in the process of increasing his ability to communicate on these flights by learning Japanese, Chinese and Russian. He qualified in March 2001 to become a purser for Northwest Airlines.
Scott had a love of learning. He attended Oregon Institute of Technology and graduated from Harrington University with a bachelors degree in chemistry, human anatomy and physiology in 1998. He continued his education there and received a masters degree in biochemistry and microbiology in 2000. He also attended Ross University School of Medicine of England. He recently graduated from the Protocol School of Washington.
Scott was born with a genetic disease and suffered a lifelong disability. He was on the transplant list for more than four years awaiting a liver transplant.
Although his health was failing, he still continued to work, help others, learn and travel. Recently he took his sister on her first trip overseas where they toured Vienna, Austria. Because of his love for ice sports, he was actively involved with the promotion of the Klamath Ice Sports Complex.
For the second time he was honored to work with the Olympic Committee, this time for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City where he was an event specialist for speed skating and figure skating.
Scott was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church. He also was a member of Klamath Lodge, No. 77 Aloha Chapter, Order of Eastern Star, and the Elks Lodge. And he was a volunteer at Conger Elementary School in Klamath Falls.
Survivors include his sister, Carol York of Klamath Falls; his uncle and aunt, Charles Loomis and Ayn Cagney of Pelham, Ala.; and his aunt’s parents, Norman and Helen Jones of Cedar Bluff, Ala.
He was preceded in death by his mother, Shara Lynne Loomis York; his father, Carl Lockwood York; his grandparents, Gordon and Evelyn Loomis; and his aunt, Sarah Geneva York.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Oregon Donor Program, P.O. Box 532, Portland, OR 97207-9734 or to Klamath Ice Sports Roof Fund, 2575 Campus Drive, No. 331, Klamath Falls, OR 97601.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, March 15, 2002
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor