Charles Fremont Scott.Courtesy of family
Charles Fremont Scott: Husband. Lawyer. Father. Golfer. Born Nov. 17, 1947, in Ottawa; died Aug. 30, 2022, at Big Rideau Lake, Ont., of a heart attack; aged 74.
Charles Scott was a complex mix of great humour and caustic commentary on life’s cavalcade. He had strong views about a world that he felt was going to hell in a hand basket. He was decidedly and pointedly politically incorrect and offside. But above all, he was charming and had an enormous sense of fun. His ability to connect, to remember, to remind and to stay in touch was impressive. He was acutely aware of who he was, where he was from, and who and what he cared about.
Charles was the eldest of three boys born to Charles and Pauline Scott. He grew up in the west end of Ottawa (not Rockcliffe, he would emphasize to make it clear that tony neighbourhood was not his). He left in 1965 for university, followed by law school at the University of Toronto.
At Victoria College, he saw Cathy Rayment at a frosh dance on the tennis court and insisted on cutting in. They fell in love and were inseparable as undergrads. They married in 1969.
After law school, he articled with Charles Dubin and then joined the Torys law firm in Toronto where he became one of the leading commercial litigators in the country. He was a superb lawyer – fiercely acute and intelligent and was at the centre of a successful practice. He eventually became a partner at the firm Lax O’Sullivan and Scott before turning his hand to arbitration and mediation.
He had so many interests. First came his family, Charles, now a doctor in Kingston, Heather, a landscape architect in Vancouver, and Jennifer, doing interior design work in Toronto. Remembering his own travels with his parents as a boy, he carefully planned and led a safari trip to Kenya for extended family just before the pandemic. He doted on his children, their spouses and his eight grandchildren, as well as his nieces and nephews. He shared his pride in their achievements, and they put up with his endless jokes and nicknames.
Charles was generous – he remembered birthdays, books one might like and people you should know. He loved old cars, old friends and old wine. He loved new cars, new friends and new wine. He loved the Cambridge Lectures and international golf matches and was a mainstay of the Ontario Lawyers Golfing Society.
He loved food and he loved to cook. His osso buco was a particular favourite. He loved welcoming friends to his table and while the quips kept coming he took time to ask questions.
He was an active board member and donor to the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, of which his father had been a founder. His daughter Heather is now an active board member.
Charles was always a wise adviser to his clients and many friends. I spent a long weekend with him chatting about a difficult career choice. “At least you have choices, and neither one is wrong.” That took the weight off.
He loved Big Rideau Lake, which is where our friendship began as teenagers. In the 1990s he took pity on my playing alone at Rideau Lakes Golf Club and asked me to join his group. “Somebody had to take you in. I guess it had to be me,” he liked to say.
Charles said I was his most expensive friend, with political campaigns, golf bets and a wide range of charity events that he loyally supported. We played golf all over the country and all over the world. The intensity of our matches was marked by two important features – first, neither of us was very good, and second, we loved to play. “That’s the most fun I’ve had with my clothes on,” Charles said after thrashing me at a game at Portmarnock in Ireland.
Grief is something we learn to integrate into our lives as we carry on. I miss him terribly but know as well that I am grateful to have had such a friend. There is a traditional Scottish song with the refrain, “Charlie is my darlin’ my darlin’ my darlin’ Charlie is my darlin’, my youthful chevalier.”
Bob Rae is Charles’s friend.
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