Reverend Leo Scott
By: Kyna Grigsby
Updated: February 5, 2009
Born in Rockdale, TX in 1933, Rev. Leo F. Scott, the youngest of 10 ten children, never dreamed he would be the man his mother hoped he would be."My mom said to me, she had prayed for a child that could do what she couldn't do," Scott recalled. What she couldn't do at that time, was be a preacher. "I said, 'Yeah, mama, that's Ben.' She said, 'No, it's you, Son.'"
Rev. Scott's journey began as a young pharmacist, working for the Abilene State School for 30 years. He was the first black pharmacist in Abilene. It was a journey that, in the 1950s, didn't come without its struggles.
"The Anglo population was not ready to trust a Black man to fill their prescriptions," he said. "As I began to get interwoven into the community and serve on some boards, people began to know me. Things began to change."
With his mother ill and holding on to life, Rev. Scott recalled a moment he'll never forget -- the moment he knew he was being called to the Lord. He sat in a room by himself and began to speak outloud.
"I said to the Lord, 'Lord, if you're waiting on me, go ahead and take her. She's suffering.'"
Scott said he then heard an answer; an answer also spoken out loud.
"A voice said, 'Who said she's suffering?' I accepted (that I would be a preacher) then."
His first stop was in Hamlin and then on to Abilene, where he eventually served as pastor of New Light Baptist Church. In addition to a full time preaching position, and a full-time career, he held a city council position, served on numerous boards, and was active with civic duties. Add that to his four children and a loving wife.
Piney Scott, known to her congregation as First Lady Scott, called her marriage a blessing from God.
"(Leo) is a strong christian and he's been the head of our family and love of my life for 50 something years, so you know he has to be mighty special," she said.
And so we salute Rev. Leo Scott as an "African American Achiever," making a difference in his community, grateful for his many blessings, and hopeful for the future.
"This is the nature of a good man: to not know the good things people say about you."
