Resident Shares Story of His Life

Bob Scarff led a life of adventure and sacrifice before coming to Judson Park. In high school, Bob played football and was voted senior class president. He worked in a grease pit at a service station, so he would buy his very own car - eventually becoming one of the four students in his class to own a vehicle.

During his time in college, he had to give up his car, as there was no parking available. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1939 with a degree in business, while also taking an assortment of math and accounting courses.
In 1922, Bob's father opened his very own car dealership, which Bob later took over in 1941. In this position, his degree came to great use! After a short time of running the dealership during a time of war and sacrifice, Bob came to the realization that he should join the service before being drafted at surprise.

Soon after he made this decisions to serve, the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941 - which ultimately altered Bob's life in a major way. He flew in from the sea on one engine with a plane full of bombs and fuel. Those trigonometry courses he took in college helped with his celestial navigation while out at sea. Bob says his greatest accomplishment was coming back from war, not just once, but twice. He was part of the first squadron in Tokyo Bay after the surrender. As a result of his years in the Navy, Bob considered himself a fatalist - which is a person who believes all things occur by fate.

Bob's life after service has been centered around his family. Bob has known his wife, Flo since she was only 6 months old. While he wasn't too impressed with her the first time they met, things changed 21 years later! Bob and Flo married after she finished her nursing at Swedish - the same career path as her mother.

Bob has kept Scarff Ford in the family for 95 years - his son has even taken over the family business. He attributes his success of the business to the fact that his word is good - he has always been an honest man and never cheated anyone. Bob says he always looks for the future because that is what he has done for almost 100 years!

Bob also wrote his own biography about his time in the service, which can be found in the Judson Park library.