MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR

JUDGE IRENE F. SCOTT

THE CLERK: All rise.

JUNE 20, 1997

All persons having business before the United States Tax Court will draw near and give their attention. The Court is in special session. Chief Judge Mary Ann Cohen presiding. JUDGE COHEN: Good afternoon. Please be seated.

It's my pleasure to welcome you this afternoon to remember and honor our friend Irene Scott who died April 10, 1997. I will begin by introducing some of her family who are here today. I hope I get those that I saw this afternoon; starting with her four lawyer children, Tom and Betsy Scott, and Frank and Irene Carroll; representing her grandchildren, Franklin Carroll and Irene Carroll. Representing the extended family, we have Frances Feagin, Corky and Jim Stone, Dorothy Young, Gregg and Bess Ballentine, and Linda Crofton.

I wish to acknowledge the presence of the Honorable Loretta C. Argrett, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Tax Division of the Department of Justice, and Ken Gideon, who is the Vice Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation.

We also have four of Judge Scott's former secretaries: Judy Hinson, Angie Magee, Hazel Winger, and Shirley Crawford. Many of her law clerks are here today. Some could not be here, but we are pleased to have Kirk Manning, Fred Witt, Earl Ing, Susan Flax Posner, George Smith, and Brian Mayberry.

We recognize many other friends and colleagues in the audience. I'm sorry that I can't recognize all of you, but of course all of us have much that we would like to say about our very special friend and colleague.

I will begin at the beginning.

On October 6, 1912, Irene Feagin was born in Union Springs, Alabama. On February 7, 1930, she was a 17-year

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old student at the University of Alabama. Apparently she was homesick or suffering some other misgivings, because on that date her father wrote her a letter. I am going to read that letter in full because I think it tells us a great deal.

Dear "Tea",

Your letter came to hand this week, and I was truly glad to hear from you. I am enclosing herewith a little clipping which I saw in the paper yesterday which possibly will make you feel better-it ought to.

I am going to quote you a little piece that I got from "Tony's Scrap Book", which I feel quite sure if you live up to, you will come out like the woman whose write-up is enclosed herewith.

"Bite off more than you can chew,

And chew it;

Plan more than you can do,

And do it;

Hitch your wagon to a star,

Keep your seat-and there you are"

Yours devotedly,
Daddy

The clipping that was enclosed was an article from a newspaper dated February 5 about the appointment of Annabel Matthews as the only woman to the 16-member Board of Tax Appeals, which, of course, was the predecessor of the United States Tax Court. Thirty years later Irene Scott was appointed to the so-called woman's seat on the Tax Court, and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Despite some obstacles, Irene Feagin graduated from the University of Alabama in 1932 and from its law school in 1936. She came to Washington, D.C., and overcame even greater obstacles to secure a position with the Bureau of Internal Revenue. She obtained an LL.M. degree from Catholic University in 1939, and she served in the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service from 1940 to 1950. From 1950 to 1952 she served as a member of the Excess Profits Tax Council, and then she returned to the Office of Chief Counsel and served in several senior capacities.

In the last couple of months we have received letters from lawyers who served with Irene Scott. We cannot read them all, but Judge Dawson will share some of the thoughts that are expressed. He also served with Irene Scott in the Office of Chief Counsel.

Of course, I skipped a step here. Irene Feagin became Irene Scott, wife and mother, while pursuing her impressive career. We cannot overstate the importance of her love and her pride in her family. Her children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, secretaries, law clerks, and everyone else who became her family were all, as far as anyone could tell, wonderful, brilliant, and successful. But you don't need to hear me talk about your own attributes.

Irene Scott was extraordinarily courteous and kind to all persons, in every place, in all circumstances. I could spend hours reading the letters and memoranda that were sent to her during her lifetime, which we shared, fortunately, and the others that we have received in the last couple of months. Some of the other speakers today will mention their experiences. But you don't need me to belabor her qualities as a friend because each of you knows what a wonderful friend she was.

Many remember Irene Scott as an excellent lawyer, whose career defied obstacles and stereotypes based on gender, and proved that persistence, skill, and achievement can indeed. obliterate such obstacles. I am reminded here of one of my favorite slogans:

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock the stream always wins. Not through strength, but through perseverance.

Irene certainly did what her daddy said. As one of our male Judges remarked to me when I called him to tell him that we had lost her, she was an inspiration to men and women alike. Her career as a lawyer has been summarized on many occasions, and I won't go into any more detail on that at this time.

I speak to you today therefore in my institutional role as Chief Judge of the United States Tax Court, and I will highlight the aspects of Irene as a Judge. I have only time for the highlights, of course. As a Judge she was also an employer, mentor, and colleague. No one was ever more revered in these capacities, and I presume to speak for hundreds of Tax Court employees, present and past, and I am happy to see many of them present today when I make these representations.

Irene Scott became a member of the Tax Court on May 30, 1960. For 21 consecutive years she was one of the top four