Photo by Dave Umberger Money raised from Don Scott's two books on Indiana barns funded scholarships for students in Purdue's College of Agriculture.

Sometimes life's greatest moments are the simplest ones. Just ask Jim Scott, BS '89, superintendent of Purdue's Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.

"Nothing could be better than being introduced as Don Scott's son," Jim says. "That was my greatest prize."

Don Scott, BS '56, professor emeritus of plant pathology since his retirement in 1998, died June 11 at a Lafayette hospital at age 70.

He left behind a wife (Jacquelyn), four children (Pam, Patti, Jeff and Jim), 10 grandchildren and two books that continue to build on his legacy as an educator and photographer.

Scott was eulogized by Tom Jordan, assistant director of Purdue Extension, who worked with Scott for more than 20 years.

"Don was a great colleague, and a great person who cared about his work, cared about people, and cared about his family. There were three of us who worked in the area of Integrated Pest Management of agronomic crops," Jordan said. "I was in weed control, Rich Edwards was a specialist in insect control, and Don worked in plant diseases. We were known as the 'Weed, Worm, and Wilt Team.'

"He was a nationally known plant pathologist who cared about the profession and cared about the tradition that was established by his predecessors. He tried to preserve the trust the agricultural communities had in Purdue University."

Scott spent 30 years crisscrossing Indiana's back roads, meeting with farmers and analyzing disease problems in fields of corn and soybeans. As he took in the landscape, he always noticed the old barns.

To save some memories for his grandkids, Scott started taking his camera on his travels. Scott photographed barns built between the mid-1800s and the mid-1900s, about 700 barns in all.

Most of the barns are now gone. But the photos have been preserved in two books, Barns of Indiana (1998) and Barns of Indiana Volume II (2001).

"Some of those old barns had character, even when they were falling down," Scott said when promoting the book in 2001.

"I'd see a beautiful old barn one day only to find the next day that it was bulldozed down. It was a part of the history of Indiana that was disappearing, something that my grandchildren would know nothing about."

Scott did not collect any of the profits from the sales of the books. He thought he was more than adequately compensated by the experiences he collected along life's path, so he turned the proceeds over to the College of Agriculture.

Proceeds from book sales have helped fund scholarships for more than 120 students, according to Donya Lester, executive secretary of Purdue's Agricultural Alumni Association.

"Don Scott was such a joy to work with," she says. "Just like his photographs, the Barns of Indiana books were created as a labor of love, and it was only after he found a way to make the proceeds support the programs of the Ag Alumni Association that he put the first one together.

"He was always happy to travel to meetings to share his photographs and talk about the old barns that he loved. He would sit for hours at the Indiana State Fair and patiently autograph books and share 'barn talk' with anyone who wanted to visit."

Here's how Scott put it in 2001: "I did my undergraduate work here. Purdue has given me a job for 30 years. And I believe in the School of Agriculture. So it was a natural for me. The most interesting part for me was the people I've met and the history I've learned. I regret I don't have a history on every barn."

Scott received the Crop and Soil Merit Award from the Indiana Crop Improvement Association in 1990; the Frederick L. Hovde Award of Excellence in Educational Service to Rural People of Indiana in 1995; Distinguished Service Awards from the Midwest Regional Turf Foundation in 1996 and the North Central Division of the American Phytopathological Society in 1998; the Indiana Farm Bureau Award for his agricultural Extension service in 1998; and in 1999, the Certificate of Distinction from the Agricultural Alumni Association for outstanding service.

He was born July 11, 1934, in Indianapolis. He received his bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Purdue in 1956, and his master's and doctoral degrees in plant pathology from the University of Illinois in 1964 and 1968. He joined the Purdue faculty in 1968.

"I am proud to have known Don and worked with him," Jordan says. "We will all miss him."

Copies of Scott's book are available through the Agricultural Alumni Association, 715 W. State Street, West Lafayette, Ind. 47907-2061; phone: (765) 494-8593. Or e-mail Lester at lesterd@purdue.edu.

Contact Jim Scott at jscott4@purdue.edu