The dash that defined him: Local man’s legacy that he was too humble to see

BLACKFOOT – When Scott Hancock died of cancer in May, his wife Colleen knew his story was much more than a date of birth and a date of death.

“If Scott had written his own obituary, it would have been simple: Born November 18, 1946 – Died May 18, 2025,” said Colleen. “I asked him, ‘What about the dash?’ His real story lies in the dash between those two dates.”

Scott never believed he made much of a difference in his life. However, now that he’s gone, Colleen has made it her mission to let people know that he did make a difference. A huge one.

Scott grew up in Pocatello in the 1950s. At age 4, he went to bed one night a perfectly healthy, happy little boy. The next morning, he woke up unable to walk. His parents rushed him to St. Anthony Hospital, where doctors, fresh from training at a polio clinic back east, recognized the signs immediately. The polio virus had attacked the nerves in his legs.

Scott was sent to the Elks Rehabilitation Center for Polio in Boise, where he was fitted with leg braces to help support his weight, and returned home. Despite this drastic and unexpected life change, his parents refused to treat him differently.

“He was the youngest of five children,” Colleen said. “He was expected to do his chores just like his brothers and sister, behave appropriately, and not complain. He believed that made him the man he became — a regular person who just happened to have a disability.”

Scott learned to live resourcefully at a young age. As a little boy, he sold worms, dug for Island Park fishermen, shined his brother’s shoes for a nickel, and fixed roller skates for neighborhood kids — all to buy small gifts for his mother.

Back then, Pocatello schools weren’t sure how to accommodate students with disabilities, and some people feared they might catch polio by touching someone who had survived it. Scott’s mother fought for her son’s right to an education. She eventually helped establish the Handicapped School at Idaho State University for Scott and many other students.

Scott returned to public school in seventh grade, using his crutches and a wheelchair to get around. He went on to graduate from Highland High School’s very first graduating class in 1964, later enrolling at Idaho State University as an art major.

That was only the beginning of his long list of accomplishments according to Colleen. Scott helped write Idaho’s Americans with Disabilities Act legislation and served on multiple state councils for people with disabilities. He directed a senior program in northern Idaho, traveling the state to set up meal services and secure financial help for seniors in need.

Later, he shifted gears into construction. For 34 years, he built and remodeled homes across northern Idaho doing much of the work crawling on the ground or from his wheelchair.

“He found a different way of solving problems. He kept a marble in his pocket while he was building houses. He put the marble on the floor to see if it rolled to determine if the floors were straight,” said Colleen. “He never let being in a wheelchair stop him from doing the things he wanted to do.”

He made friends with kids who had fast cars, hitching rides until he could afford his own vehicle. When he finally bought one, he retrofitted it with hand controls and drove it hunting and fishing in Island Park and throughout southeast Idaho.

One of his greatest joys was riding his Honda Gold Wing motorcycle retrofitted so he could drive it from his wheelchair.

He also wrote extensively, contributing to the Island Park News, Blackfoot Morning News and publishing in Idaho Magazine, American Motorcyclist and Sports Afield.

Yet he often dismissed his work as insignificant. “There are so many others who do a much better job,” he would say. “These are just silly little stories anyone could write.”

He was asked many times to write a book about his life, but always said, “Nobody would believe I really did those things.”

When the Hancocks eventually returned to southeast Idaho, settling in Blackfoot, Scott reluctantly “retired.” That’s when he began writing the “little stories” about his life that grew into two volumes of “Tales from the High Lonesome.” They were so well received that he began writing a third volume before his death.

Colleen has since published Volume 3, now available on Amazon, fulfilling the promise she made to her husband to publish it. She plans to combine Scott’s remaining writings into a fourth book, creating one final large collection.

Scott’s books are available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and at Kesler’s Market in Blackfoot.

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But Colleen emphasizes that writing was just a small part of Scott’s accomplishments and who he was.

“He raised children who were not his own and loved them as if they were. He gave from his heart, made friends everywhere, and loved being with people,” said Colleen.

For Colleen, sharing Scott’s legacy is about honoring the impact he never fully saw in himself.

“I am not the writer. My husband was. His story is one of resilience. I can only try to express what I saw and learned from him and share some of his dash with you,” Colleen concluded.