North Salem remembers John Scott Parker

NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - As its assistant building inspector, John Scott Parker had a positive impact on North Salem by being tough but fair, conscientious, and dedicated.

But it was as a person that he made the most deep and lasting impression, say folks who remember his kindness, patience, wit, and most of all, resilience in the face of adversity.

The father of two, son, and brother died on Sept. 11, 2024, after a long and valiant battle with colon cancer. He was 62.

Friends, family, and colleagues gathered together on Tuesday, Sept. 9 to plant an oak tree, make speeches, and dedicate a bronze plaque mounted on a boulder in his honor.

Just a few yards away, in the building department’s headquarters off Titicus Road, a framed portrait of the man himself smiled as if to wonder what all the fuss was about.

After the formal ceremony was over, they all sat in the shade of an apple tree to share memories along with lunch and some cake.

It was Parker’s birthday, after all.

Supervisor Warren Lucas pointed out that the oak had been chosen by building inspector Jim Duhigg “because it symbolizes strength and endurance – qualities Scott lived by.”

In attendance were Parker’s mom, Gladys; his sister, Kim; and his daughters, Mae and Annie.

Honesty & Integrity

All told, Parker and Duhigg had worked very well together for more than a decade -- first in Peekskill and later here after a position opened up in 2019.

He had his colleague’s complete trust.

“If I wasn’t here, was sick or on vacation, and Scott was here, there were no worries. He could handle anything,” Duhigg said.

Parker had to be tough when it came to enforcing the local codes, but in general he was “an easy-going guy.”

“People liked Scott. When they first met him, they liked him. They couldn’t help but like him,” he recalled.

At the same time, Parker was no pushover.

“Honesty and integrity were two of his best features,” said Duhigg.

There isn’t a day that’s goes by that he doesn’t think of him.

“He wasn’t just a person I worked with, he was my friend. I’m so glad we could do this for him. He needs to be remembered for who and what he was,” Duhigg said.

Parker had served with the Katonah Fire Department for 20 years. He loved fishing, motorcycles, fixing and building things, the Grateful Dead, bad dad jokes, barbecuing, family get-togethers, driving his red Ford truck, and sharing a beer or two with friends at Muscoot Tavern.

Sense of Humor

Rosemary James, office assistant in the building department, was impressed with how bravely Parker had navigated his grueling treatments.

(Parker never lost his hair, something he loved to point out to his bald friends.)

“He was very sick, but you wouldn’t have known it by his sense of humor or how much he worked,” she said.

“There’s a picture of him in the office and a lot of times if there’s something we know he would have gotten a kick out of, we ask it: ‘Scott, what do you think about that?'” James said, adding: “so, he’s gone but not forgotten.”

Zoning Board of Appeals secretary Jennifer Santis was awed by the fact that Parker, although sick, showed up for work every single day.

“He never complained, never made you feel bad for him. And he didn’t want you to, he just wanted to do his job and for us to treat him like there was nothing going on,” she said.

Parker enjoyed making people laugh.

“He was very funny and witty and had a lot of good quips, like at the end of the day he’d tell everyone ‘It’s quittin’ time!’ and we’d head out the door,” Santis recalled with a smile.

Group Effort

Parker’s monument was a group effort.

Rick O’Leary, a North Salem resident and member of the ZBA, donated the tree.

“I’ve worked on projects that Scott was reviewing and he always had good, lawyerly-like input,” he said, adding that he was very impressed by Parker’s impact on the town, his love of people, and his work ethic despite facing “a lot of difficult health issues.”

According to Lucas, the boulder holding the plaque came from a “old home in town, saved for years until it found its purpose.” It was cut and shaped by the highway department folks.

Growing Strong

Besides being “excellent at his work,” Parker treated “people with respect, kindness, and patience,” Lucas said in his speech.

“Residents would often tell us how much they appreciated him – and when the occasional complaint came in, we all knew it was never really about Scott,” he added.

Parker’s warmth and positivity also had “a way of lifting up every conversation,” Lucas said, remembering how he “loved to talk about how beautiful the day was, or about his daughters, Mae and Annie, of whom he was so proud" and how he never missed a chance to say something kind about his colleagues.

After leading a prayer at the dedication ceremony, Lucas reiterated that Parker will be missed but not forgotten.

“This tree will grow strong, season after season, just as his memory will remain strong in all of us,” he said.