Scott Williamson

This week, we revel in the coming of spring and reflect on the well-lived life of Scott Williamson. Scott had a intense appreciation of the natural world, and he and his wife, Shannon, and their daughters, Emma and Claire, loved to explore nature's woodlands, sea shores, mountains, and prairies. It is with heavy hearts that we pay tribute to Scott who passed away on Friday, March 14 after a courageous battle with glioblastoma.

Scott and his family lived in Trumansburg, NY where he was a rising star in the field of population genetics and an assistant professor at Cornell University. In the last year, Scott's ground-breaking work in evolutionary biology was featured in the New York Times and listed in the "Top 100 Science Stories of 2007" by Discover magazine. Although Scott was an incredibly talented and gifted researcher, he gracefully balanced his career with an intense commitment to family and an appreciation of life's simple pleasures such as walking in the woods, decorating special cakes for his daughters' birthdays, crafting exquisite furniture, making wooden toys, building a backyard play cottage, watching for birds, growing vegetables in his garden, playing in the ocean, listening to bluegrass music, looking for salamanders, canoeing with his family, and baking his special key lime pie. Scott embodied kindness, humor, and humility, and his very presence made everyone around him a better person.

Although Scott cherished the forests, mountains, and glacier-fed lakes of New York, he had a deep love for his native state of Kansas, home to his surviving grandparents J Fred Williamson and Lois Patton; parents, Brad and Carol Williamson, in-laws Fran and Cheryl Herrick, and sister, Erica Reynolds. Scott spent many of his last days enjoying walks in the prairies, woodlands, and sandstone canyons of Kansas. If Scott were with us today, he would rejoice in the tiny green shoots of Dutchman's breeches, trout lilies, and toothwort peeking out of the blanket of last autumn's leaves and acorns, and look for the five-petaled, white flowers of false rue anemone. These spring wildflowers—aptly named ephemerals— last only through the spring before the foliage of the more dominant oaks, hickories, and sycamores develop into the woodland canopy and hoard the sunlight. The physical world, much like the wildflowers, is only ephemeral. But Scott's influence on our world and our love for him is forever.

In honor of Scott, a visitation with friends and family will be held on Friday, March 21 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home, 14275 Blackbob Road, Olathe, KS (http://www.penwellgabel.com). A Tribute to All Things Scott will be held on Saturday, March 22 from 1 p.m. at the Church of the Resurrection, Chapel, 13720 Roe Avenue, Leawood, KS 66224 (http://www.cor.com) with a reception to follow. And the First Annual Everybody-Loves-Scott Event will be on Saturday evening at the Prairie Center, 26235 West 135th Street, Olathe KS 66061. The campfire will start at 6 p.m.- dress warm, and bring your binoculars. To honor Scott's wishes that his daughters both be able to fulfill their dreams, a college fund has been established for Emma and Claire with the Williamson Memorial Education Fund, c/o the First National Bank of Olathe, P. O. Box 1500, Olathe, KS 66051.

Throughout his battle with brain cancer, Scott never complained, never worried, never got angry at the cruelness of the disease. Instead, Scott expressed gratitude that experience of dealing with a brain tumor had reminded him how much he profoundly appreciated the world and cherished his family. In tribute to Scott this spring, take a walk in the woods. Listen to birds returning from their winter haunts. Eat a really yummy cookie. Enjoy the wildflowers. Read to your kids. Bake a pie. Acts of love for your family and admiration of nature are very fitting tributes to Scott's very well-lived life.