Dr. William (Bill) Franklin Scaggs

William (Bill) Franklin Scaggs transitioned from this life on Tuesday, July 14th following complications from a pulmonary embolism and cancer.  A Florida native, Bill graduated Lake Wales High School in 1953 and enrolled at the University of Florida earning an Associate of Arts in 1955 and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1957.   Bill served as a member of the US Army Reserve from 1956 to 1962.  By chance he became a teacher at his hometown high school and completed his Master of Arts in Counseling at Stetson University in 1961.

Bill often relayed that the high point of his Stetson experience was the 7:30 a.m. class in "Therapeutic Counseling" where he met Sally Boureau. Bill continued his study focused on educational policy research; specifically, community colleges as gateways to opportunity and Sally headed back to Coral Gables to plan the October 28, 1961 wedding.

So, in 1963 Bill, as a Kellogg Fellow for Community College Leadership and newly minted Doctor of Education and Sally, a newly minted mother, headed to Meridian to gain a “few years” of experience as a prelude to an imagined career in university teaching and research.  Bill often said that the Bonita Lakes water was addictive as he and Sally laid down deep roots in the community.  MCC grew and the Scaggs family grew.

Bill's thirty-five-year tenure at Meridian Community College, 30 of which were served as President, brought opportunities to serve this community and his community college "family" beyond Meridian. Among the lessons Bill grew to appreciate is that "being a critic, even a loving critic, is easy; being an agent of change is very hard."  In addition to his official duties, Bill continued teaching and mentoring relationships formally within several leadership development programs, including Leadership Lauderdale and the Mid-South Community College Fellowship Program.  But perhaps more meaningful to him were the, too many to count, informal mentoring and teaching relationships he forged.  Bill was a lover of baseball and in younger years a frequent coach, rumored to be “tough and determined when on the field between the lines” but as one he helped mentor has also remarked, far beyond baseball, he taught me “where the chalk lines in life are.” Bill’s life was replete with deep, personal connections for which he was enormously and continually grateful.

Bill has been described as a quiet thinker who, when he spoke, he spoke with wisdom.  He would be pleased to know that in a poignant remembrance from a childhood friend of all his kids Bill was remembered in this way: “I was exposed to very fine things in his home: broad American music (from Willie Nelson to Billy Joel); learning the game of poker with his children, and witnessing the first experiments at smoking meat well before it became common place.  Bill was famous for wearing a shirt that read: ‘If you don’t work, you don’t eat’.  He was a gardener and an artist”.

Following retirement Bill continued his passion for community development by co-founding the Meridian Freedom Project (MFP) whose mission is to “create a corps of academically capable, socially-conscious, and mentally disciplined young leaders in Meridian.”  Bill was active in The MFP up until his death.

Married for 58 years, Bill is survived by his wife Sally, and children Frank (Wendy) of Fort Worth, Texas; Ben (Janice) of Gulfport; Susan (Kim) of Jackson; and Skip (Brenda) of Amory.  Additional survivors include 10 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren and Spenser, a come-up cat of distinction.

Per his request, there will be no funeral, but the family will have an old-fashioned wake to laugh together and celebrate memories of this lovely, lovely man at a point in the future when it is safe.  In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to Meridian Community College Foundation, Meridian Freedom Project, or The Episcopal Church of the Mediator.