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Obituary for Edward C. Schott
Edward Chalkley Schott took his first breath on Christmas Eve Day 1943 and took his last on September 2, 2019. He was 75 years old.
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, on December 24, 1943 to Edward Lockwood Schott and Mary Jane Chalkley Schott, Edward, known as “Ted” to those who loved him most, married Sallie Claire Bailey, the love of his life, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on June 10, 1966. He is survived by his wife, Sallie; his brother, John Spencer Schott; his daughter, Pauline “Polly” Elizabeth Schott Blair, her husband, Randall Robert Blair, and their two sons, Theodore Edward Blair and Clark David Blair; and his daughter Annie Rachel Schott Mitchell and her husband, Erik Joseph Mitchell.
Edward “Ted” Schott and his beloved Sallie created a life together that was full of love, laughter, joy and light. Schott graduated from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, in 1965 and married Sallie the next year. Three months after their wedding Schott enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he served as a first lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps in the Republic of Vietnam. Schott earned a number of accolades during his service, including a National Defense Service Medal, a Combat Medical Badge, a Commendation Medal for Heroism and a Bronze Star Medal.
While serving in Vietnam on Feb. 18, 1968, Schott’s motor pool, constructed from titanium, was set on fire by an enemy rocket. According to the commendation report, “Lieutenant Schott immediately began directing the people present in trying to put out the fire. Arriving at the fire, he entered the burning building and smoking tent and assigned those present to specific areas in the tent. His valorous actions prevented further burning of the area and saved much valuable equipment.”
Schott was also presented with a Bronze Star Medal in July 1968. According to the citation, Schott “distinguished himself by outstandingly meritorious service in connection with military operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. His rapid assessment and solution of numerous problems inherent in a counterinsurgency environment greatly enhanced the allied effectiveness against a determined and aggressive enemy.”
Schott was relieved of active duty on August 14, 1968, and subsequently entered the University of Minnesota on the GI Bill, graduating with a Master of Health Administration in 1970. His first daughter, Polly, was born in 1971; followed by his second daughter, Annie, in 1973. Throughout his professional career, Schott held a number of positions in hospital administration, including working for the Hospital Corporation of America from 1976 to 1986; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware in the late 1980s to early 1990s, and finally at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson from 1996 until his retirement in 2006.
In retirement Schott enjoyed spending time with Sallie, keeping up on the escapades and adventures of daughters Polly and Annie and their families, serving as a mentor to graduate students in the University of Minnesota’s hospital administration program, checking out and reading books from the Willie Morris Library, and exercising among friends at the University of Mississippi Wellness Center on Lakeland Drive in Jackson.
On September 2, 2019, Schott died from a massive heart attack while doing yard work. The irony is not lost that Schott died on Labor Day, as he spent his entire life working to make sure his wife, daughters, family and country were well cared for.
Funeral services will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, where he will be buried next to his father and mother, and eventually his wife, under a headstone provided by the U.S. Army. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to University Wellness Center to provide scholarships to the Exercise is Medicine program, www.umc.edu/givenow or mailed to UMMC Development Accounting, 2500 N. State Street, Jackson, Miss., 39216; or to the Willie Morris Library, c/o the Jackson Hinds Library System, 300 North State Street, Jackson, Miss., 39201, attention Edward Schott Memorial Gift.