Deceased July 17, 2016
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In Memory
We’ve all heard about, maybe even experienced, the roommate from hell. Hal Scutt was the roommate from heaven. All of us who roomed with Hal recall that he was always cheerful, fastidiously neat and an all-around great friend.
A loyal Psi U, Hal was a member of the Glee Club and an Olio staffer. He was a true believer in the worth of a broad liberal arts education. Hal loved the Fairest College. In his 50th reunion reminiscence, Hal said, “I have been proud to be an Amherst graduate and know that I always will be.”
Our senior year, Hal met Sue Delphos, a Smith freshman, and fell head over heels in love. They raised three children, who brought five grandchildren into a close-knit family. His daughter Betsy described him accurately as organized and unfailingly polite, with lots of diverse interests. She felt really loved by her dad, considered him her “rock” and said, “I never wanted to disappoint that man.”
Even though for Hal family was “by far, the most important part of my life,” he was able to couple that devotion with a successful career. After Columbia Business School, his work involved primarily marketing and advertising, with such firms as General Foods, Lever Brothers and Doyle Dane Bernbach Advertising, where he became senior vice president and general manager. For two years he dabbled in real estate development and in later years carved out a rewarding part-time second career with Student Futures Inc., engaging in career counseling for college seniors and recent graduates.
A genuinely good and outgoing “people person,” Hal enjoyed relationships with a broad array of people of all ages.
Most of all, Hal will be remembered and missed for his exceptionally finely tuned sense of humor and his sunny, upbeat disposition.
Lamentably, they don’t make Hal Scutts anymore.
Fred Greenman ’58