Segundo Barrio muralists commissioned by grant to paint bikes resembling their mural
Segundo Barrio muralist were commissioned by grant to paint bikes resembling their mural. Barrio BCycle artists ride the bikes that they painted from Arts Festival Plaza to Sacred Heart Church, 602 S. Oregon Street in Segundo Barrio, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021.
Gaby Velasquez, El Paso Times
Editor’s note: Each Sunday, The Herald-Mail runs “A Life Remembered.” Each story in this continuing series takes a look back — through the eyes of family, friends, co-workers and others — at a member of the community who died recently. Today’s “A Life Remembered” is about Scott Russell Paddack, who died Aug. 20 at the age of 59. His obituary appeared in The Herald-Mail on Aug. 25.
Scott Paddack was known as “Crazy Scott” during his days at Frostburg State College, where his big, costumed personality came blasting through a bullhorn to inspire the crowd at football games.
That energy and nickname defined his life.
The skilled artist, collector, magician, prankster and promoter was a 24/7-365 cheerleader for his family and community.
Family members said they couldn’t go anywhere without running into someone who knew him.
“He was everywhere, anywhere, and if there was a magazine I’m pretty sure he’d be known as Mr. Washington County every single year,” son Daved Paddack said.
“I have his phone, and I’m still getting alerts of like, got to teach Sunday school, got to go to this meeting,” daughter Alex Paddack said. “And it’s nonstop, all the things he was involved in.”
Origin story
His crazy side started to show at a young age growing up in Hagerstown’s North End.
Sister Maryle Mondschein recalls the time he and his buddies rigged a wallet with a dollar bill in it to a fly-fishing reel and yanked it away when passing motorists stopped to investigate.
“One time somebody was not so happy and insisted it was his wallet … and chased them down the street,” she said. “That was a scary one.”
Then there was the time they built a fort out of storm windows and blankets, collapsing it on top of each other.
“It was a hospital visit,” Maryle said with a laugh. “So there’s that.”
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Lifelong friend Ed Patterson recalls how they met in seventh grade, when their lockers were next to each other and he didn’t know how to work the combination lock.
“I said, ‘Can you show me how to do this?’ and he said, ‘If you give me your ice cream sandwich at lunchtime,'” Ed said. “And he’s been a good friend ever since.
“We were in scouts together and our lives have been intertwined since then.”
Daved’s name is a mashup of Paddack’s best friends’ names, Dave Montgomery and Ed Patterson.
“We were the Three Amigos,” Ed said.
Paddack graduated from North Hagerstown High School in 1980 and went on to Frostburg State College, as it was known then, where he started a DJ business to help pay for school.
He hosted and emcee’d parties and events under the name Crazy Scott, and continued as an emcee for the rest of his life.
“His favorite thing was to be in front of a microphone,” Ed said. “I think the weekend before he died he did a wedding.
“Every year up at Frostburg they’d have a reunion and he would be the DJ for that.”
‘Didn’t know how to say no’
After graduating in 1985, he went to work for Showtime Industries, working in Hawaii and North Carolina to promote artists such as Firehouse, Vanilla Ice and New Kids on the Block and using his graphic arts skills to design posters and album artwork.
He returned to Hagerstown and founded PM Promotions, a marketing firm promoting local businesses and organizations.
Some of them are still using logos he created.
Paddack also designed patches, T-shirts and logos for the Mason-Dixon Council of the Boy Scouts of America where he worked for the last 19 years, most recently as a field director.
He oversaw a variety of scouting activities, including a stint as director of the council’s 500-acre Sinoquipe Scout Reservation in Fulton County, Pa.
Paddack was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Masonic Friendship Lodge No. 84, Antietam Exchange Club, Ravens Roost 124 and was a former Jaycee.
He raised money for various causes and volunteered with organizations such as United Way of Washington County and Reach of Washington County, which operates the cold weather shelter in Hagerstown.
He was involved in so many activities and took time to talk to so many people that he was often late for meetings.
Going through his belongings after he passed, Alex found “hundreds” of awards the family didn’t know about because of his humble nature.
“As much of a fun guy as he was, he was also caring, so respectful of his community and there for anyone who needed him,” she said. “He didn’t know how to say no.”
‘Fun for all of us’
For years, he portrayed Santa Claus for a variety of community organizations and events.
His buddy Ed used to help out as his elf, nonchalantly quizzing the children waiting in line to see him.
“And when they would get up on his lap he already knew their name and what they wanted, and their faces would just light up,” he said.
Holidays were big, extravagant affairs at the Paddack home, featuring elaborate decorations and handmade Halloween costumes.
He entertained his kids with things like magic tricks and pranks like ditching them in the toy aisle of the store, watching them panic from a distance.
“It was fun for all of us, because it was just a funny game,” Alex said.
“Scott Paddack was a kid at heart,” Daved said. “That’s what made him so good at the Boy Scouts of America, making sure he was helping out kids in the community.
“It wasn’t just that he knew how to make things fun, he was just a fun person.”
He loved collecting — Hallmark Christmas ornaments, Boy Scout patches and Pokeman and Star Wars memorabilia, for example. And he loved his 1959 Cadillac.
That kid’s heart was also warm, and taught his children to be well-rounded with good values such as community service.
‘How’s my boy doing?’
Maryle said she treasures the times his calm, sensible reasoning talked her through difficult situations.
“He had this sensible side that was really helpful at a couple critical times for me, and I will be forever grateful,” she said.
“He was always there when you needed him in that moment of crisis and always had the right things to say,” Alex said.
Family members said he was a good brother, father, uncle, and, although briefly, a good grandfather.
Daughter Brittany Jordan’s son, Robert S. Whittington Jr., was born seven weeks early on June 17, just two months before his grandfather passed.
“And what was the reason for this?” Brittany asked. “It was clearly so he could meet his grandpa.
“He loved him so much,” she said. “He would text me every day and say, ‘How’s my boy doing?'”
Paddack got to meet his grandson for the first time on July 4.
“Of course, in between him going to different events and passing out flags at the fireworks,” Brittany said with a laugh.
Paddack passed unexpectedly after bouts with pneumonia.
“God needed a warrior and chose Dad, because there is no other reasoning or explanation,” Alex said.
“When you shine a light so bright, what happens?” Daved asked. “It burns out.”
Paddack’s obituary asked mourners at his viewing to wear attire that best represented him.
Ed said there were plenty of scouts in uniform, including a contingent from Troop 10 based at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hagerstown, where he served as assistant scoutmaster and scoutmaster, and Paddack served on the troop’s committee. Members of Paddack’s college graduating class showed up wearing Frostburg State College garb, and others wore T-shirts reflecting his laid-back nature.
Ed said he and Dave Montgomery decided to wear tuxedos because their friend might have gotten a chuckle out of that.
“It was absolutely out of respect but it was almost like a joke, because we don’t normally wear tuxes,” he said.
Ed counts the friendship between the three of them as a blessing, and said Paddack’s passing has been hard on his children and friends.
“This has been hard, but they have been strong, stronger than me, even,” he said. “He raised them right for sure.
“He made them strong and made them believe in themselves.”
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