It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Scott Prevette Hanselman. Scott is the cousin of Terry's mother, Joanne Prevette McCormick, and was a very good friend to the both of us. We were lucky to get to know Scott while we lived in Chicago. Scott was an insightful, thoughtful, caring, and wonderful person. We will miss him very much. Below are some of the stories that we have about Scott. We will remember him as a humorous soul who always encouraged us to live our lives to the fullestt. We hope that you enjoy these stories as we have enjoyed remembering them.

 

Moving to Chicago:

When we first moved to Chicago, Scott had contacted us and said that we could stay with him for a weekend while we searched for an apartment. Alison and I agreed to meet up in Chicago on a Friday afternoon. We arrived and hour earlier than expected because we had forgotten about the time change between Illinois and Ohio. Alison and I both arrived on Scott's street at the same time and I called him to let him know that we were there. He was very surprised and told me that he was doing his laundry. Just then, we saw him rounding the corner carrying a basket of laundry and talking on his cell phone. "Oh there you are" he said. "Hello Scott, there you are too." He said that he was not ready for us yet and that he needed to clean up his apartment. We asked him how long he needed and he said " Oh gosh may be an hour or two. There are a lot of nice houses in this neighborhood that you should check out. I'll call you when I'm ready." We walked around Scott's neighborhood, Buena Park, and 20 minutes later he called and let us know that he was ready.

 

Our first weekend with Scott and in Chicago:

Our introduction to Chicago was with Scott. He had a little Volkswagen bug and he drove us to all of the neighborhoods in the north and western parts of the city. We didn't know it then, but seeing all of these areas was really beneficial for us. The first night, Scott took us to dinner in a neighborhood called Andersonville. The restaurant was turkish and the food was excellent. Three years later, when we moved to Andersonville, we were walking down Clark to discover the same restaurant and realize that it was Scott who had introduced us to the neighborhood.

Most of the weekend was filled with us looking for an apartment. It was stressful and we had to make a quick decision on something that was comfortable but was affordable. We ended up signing on a place in Lakeview on Belmont Ave right across the street where Scott's parents had lived in when they first moved to Chicago.

On Sunday, we went to brunch down on Michigan Ave in a space that Scott had designed himself. At the time, he had a side job with a caterer that he called "schlepping dishes" and he had to wear his uniform to work. We took the 151 Lakeshore express bus from Sheridan Ave near his apartment. While we were waiting, Scott spotted some over flowing trash coming out of a can. He saw a small frying pan that was finished in light "powder" blue. He quickly grabbed the pan saying " I have been looking all over for a pan like this, it matches my set perfectly." The three of us laughed all the way to downtown and through breakfast. The only thing that stopped us was how magnificent Scott's design of the restaurant was. It was truly a great first weekend.

Random and Funny Meetings:

We moved into our first apartment in early June of 2002. I quickly went to work and Alison started looking for a job. It was not long before we adjusted and settled into our lives there. We ran into Scott almost a month after we moved into our apartment. He was walking down the street with a friend eating an ice cream and we insisted that he come and check out our place. It was great to hang out with him.

We saw Scott by chance later that fall. We were walking down Broadway Ave in Lakeview and we walked by Anne Sathers and saw Scott eating breakfast there. We got excited and started banging on the windows to get his attention. He looked at us startled, then confused, and then he realized it was us and he almost fell out of his seat. He ran outside to meet us and we had another good laugh.

The next meeting with Scott is probably the funniest. We were on the red line "L" train one morning and we saw Scott get on the opposite end of the same train car as us. It was about 7:30 in the morning and I thought it would be funny to call him on his cell phone. He answered and when I told him it was Terry, he said that he could not talk right then because he was on the train. I said, "Turn around Scott, I am on the train too !!" He turned around and let out a big laugh. We chatted and laughed until Washington Ave. The other people must have thought we were crazy.

One weekend, Alison and I were selling cookies on the street during a summer festival in Andersonville. We were trying to raise money for our volunteer trip to Peru. The day got slow and the people coming out of the festival were becoming more and more drunk. We were about to pack things up when all of a sudden we saw Scott walking down the street with his friend Julie. They ran up to us and we had a long talk about what our plans were for moving to Peru. Scott was so encouraging and supportive. They each bought 10 cookies and we were sold out for the day.

The last time we saw Scott was also by chance. We were going to see a concert at Ravinia Music Center just north of Chicago. We took the Metra line train to the suburbs to get to the show. When the train pulled into the station, we spotted Scott standing on the platform with his umbrella. We ran up to talk to him and we found out that he was waiting for Julie. We talked for a few minutes and then we got in line to get inside the show. That was the last time we saw him. We tried to meet up later but we could not find each other in the crowd.

I suppose that the best things in life come by surprise. Our time with Scott Hanselman was always a wonderful surprise. We know that he watches over us in Peru and that he is always keeping us safe. We will miss Scott dearly but we will always take him with us.

Please visit a special website celebrating Scott's life: www.scotthanselmanlife.com