Major (Retired) John Scott - Canadian Army

[MajorDad 0]

John passed away Saturday after a landing accident.

He was a highly regarded skydiving instructor with over 9000 jumps.

He became a full time skydiving professional after retiring from the military.

His life's accomplishments are many:
- Team Captain of the Canadian Army Skyhawks for 5 years
- member of a number of Canadian National Teams competing at the world level, including last years Worlds
- member of the 100 way CF formation over Lake Wales
- Civilian Instructor of many Military courses and teams including the Skyhawks, the Canadian Forces Search and Rescue Technicians, Military Freefall courses, etc
- Tandem Examinar
and so on and so on.

He lived large and leaves a big wake behind him.

The legacy of all the instructors and people who he trained and mentored over the years can not be understated.

Fly free, John

BSBD

Major Dad
CSPA D-579

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

John will be sorely missed. He was a fantastic guy. I'm glad I had the pleasure to work alongside him on a bunch of Canadian MFP courses a few years ago. I'm also glad I got to hang out with him at Skydive Arizona these past couple of winters. We've lost another great one.

BSBD!

[DcloudZ 0]

Sounds like he was an amazing guy, never had the priviledge of meeting him though

This sad news spread pretty quickly, we heard about it in Quebec not long after the incident... Goes to show how many people this man positively affected.

Blue Skies John, fly free

"Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way." -Alan Watts

[footix 0]

I was fortunate to have John as a colleague for the last 5 years.
He was the most hard working and easy going guy you can possibly imagine.
He was always willing to help, never showing off despite its incredible talent and experience as a skydiver.
And “work hard, party hard” was definitely not an understatement for John, so much fun to have him around
We miss him already
Blue skies John

[faulknerwn 38]

I was so sad to hear of his passing. He was a lot of fun to be around.
It broke my heart to watch Lyal have to talk to the news about him.
Bsbd....

[CanuckInUSA 0]

My condolences to John's friends and family. Eden North is a good DZ.
It's sad to have to deal with this event.

BSBD.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[leon.hill 1]

Blue skies John.

[ruleofpull 0]

I had the pleasure of going through much of my AFF training with John 2 years ago. He was a hard-ass on ground training, who gave me exactly what I needed for training, and it was awesome... as were his camo-pants. I was looking forwards to getting back to Alberta to learn more from him at Eden North. It saddens me to know that John's gone. During one training jump later in my progression, I was looked up in the sky and just feet above me he was there... with this giant grin on his face. It was an incredible grin, and I smiled back knowing that what we were doing was amazing, even on a training jump. The next day when I graduated AFF he paid me an enormous compliment... but then followed it up with a criticism (on the PA of course) just so I would stay level. This is only my second death in this skydiving world, and man does it suck... I still don't understand it, and that's okay. I think, and have thought of you often, John. BSBD.

[MajorDad 0]

From Facebook....

John Scott's family would like to inform you of a viewing to be held for family and friends. The viewing will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, May 8 at Serenity Funeral Services at 128 Queen Street in Spruce Grove, AB from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

Eden North will be hosting a memorial in the very near future and will send out the details as soon as possible.

Major Dad
CSPA D-579

[NPJo 0]

It seems that I've known John my whole skydiving career. (Almost) annual visits to Arizona since 2006 to my favorite away dropzone at Little Canada's Eden West [what I like to call it] are responsible for my greatest skydiving learning curves. I don't have the privilege of jumping at Eden North, so I gleen knowledge from the team at their organized Canadian Invasions.

John was always someone that you just liked to stand back and watch. What a HUGE personality! It always seemed like he was looking for an 'experience'. He always seemed hungry for fun and adventure. He out jumped and out partied me at every turn. I was looking back at my jump images from the invasions I've been to, and there isn't a single big way jump that he was not on. He had a good eye for you when you had no idea he was watching, and he offered tips when he felt it would help.

I've seen John walk (stomp) out on the field to berate a jumper that did a dangerous landing, and I admired him (and Lyal) for that. You can learn a lot by watching the best in the profession.

I'm truly gutted by this. Although I didn't know John in my civilian (non-skydiving) world, he is HUGE in my jumping world. He is in a lot of memories. I had barely over 100 jumps when I first met him, and now I have over 700 jumps. Any of the big way jumps I've done in Eloy, he's been on.

Bonfires, fire eating, topless contests, pool games, tequila chasing...the list goes on. I'm looking forward to reading more from others.

A part of me will remain in denial that this even happened. Until I get to Eloy next January. The grief will be fresh for me there, I'm sure. To everyone at Eden North (and to John's relatives), I offer my most sincere condolences. No family should suffer like you have. I'm so sorry for that. Take care of each other, respect each other, have fun, and play safe. And like John always did, JUMP SMILING!!

Be happy for this moment, for this moment is your life!

[grimmie 186]

Eden North is hosting a celebration of John's life this Monday, May 20th, at the DZ.

Fly Free my friend...