Scott Raden

Scott grew up in St. Cloud MN and married his wife, Pam Raden, at the age of 26. A few years later they launched into their 25 year business ownership of the “The Johnson Group”, a marketing firm that they cultivated into a very successful venture in St Cloud.

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After they were married, he and Pam would routinely head up to northern MN in the summer to spend time at a family cabin. Of course, just down the road from the cabin, in Walker MN, was a golf course that Scott really, really enjoyed playing. The name of this course is Tianna.  So when Pam got pregnant with their first child, and that first child arrived in the form of a little girl, the choice for a name was now a forgone conclusion.  This child shall be named “Tianna”.

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His love of the game had also deeply impacted his son, TJ.  Scott nurtured TJ’s interest in golf, just as our father had in us, and it clearly took.  As TJ played through the ranks with the Sartell High School golf team, Scott could always be found just a few steps behind at each match, advising and encouraging TJ (which, as Scott always was, just slightly within the bounds of the MSHSL rules) as well as encouraging others to get the best out of their games.  He wasn’t exclusively held to just the Sartell golf squad either.  Scott’s engaging personality made him a favorite of many of the other parents and coaches in the Central Lakes conference.  His absence from all the tournaments when Scott could no longer attend, was widely noticed and mentioned. 

Scott created his own father/son adventure to Scotland with TJ, shortly after he was diagnosed.  TJ has started his collegiate golf career now at Bemidji State University, and Scott could not have been prouder to watch his son grow up and compete in the same sport that kept us all connected throughout the decades.  Part of the legacy that Scott leaves behind will live on forever in his kids, and their kids after that, and you can certainly expect that he will be watching.

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He is gone far too soon.  But in Scott’s passing, we are reminded that none of us are promised tomorrow, so live your life to the fullest each day.  Scott did that.  Even as his days came to their measured end, he remained concerned about everyone but himself.  He wanted to make sure that Pam would be OK.  That the kids were taken care of. That all the “i”s were dotted and “t”s were crossed, leaving as few details as possible to be resolved after he was gone.  For as hard as Scott worked building a life for himself and his family, he dedicated himself just as diligently to tying up matters that he knew he needed to as he was quickly staring down his own mortality.

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Scott never bemoaned the catastrophic hand he was dealt with his diagnosis.  He would deal with it on his own terms.  He fought, and he fought hard. Sure, he was frustrated.  Any of us would be. A mind that displayed laser focus in business and sport, trapped inside a body that breaks away on all sides.  Yet he never sought sympathy, or made excuses. He never complained.  If we ever asked, he would always give us the thumbs up, and say “all is good”.  Even now, having passed to a world where he can once again move freely and without pain, I know that all of our cares and concerns for him will be met with that same thumbs up, and that familiar “all is good”.

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