ABOUT SCOTT

Scott William Hoepfner was loved into this world on May 7, 2001.  The only child of Angela Hoepfner, he was an amazing wonder full of energy and curiosity and a welcomed new cousin/nephew/grandchild into his Hoepfner family. 

From a very early age Scott had a personable and generous personality - he enjoyed being around people and helping others.  He loved to laugh and delighted in making others laugh, too. 

Scott shared a love for Disney with his mom.  They traveled to Florida nine times and California once - sometimes with other friends or family, but also just together as their own little family adventure.

As Scott grew from a boy into a teenager, he found a love for football - and was good at it.  He played varsity from his sophomore year of high school with his favourite position being wide receiver.  He was always competitive, but humble. Scott also loved animals and volunteered at 5 Acres Animal Shelter.  It was through this volunteering that he convinced his mom to rescue three dogs on separate occasions - his adored Micah, Mojo and Mastiff.

Scott was willing to try just about anything, and his adventurous nature helped him to excel in Boy Scouts all the way to the official rank of Eagle Scout on July 13, 2015.  At only 14 years old, he was one of the youngest in Missouri to accomplish this prestigious award. A flag flew above United States Capitol on August 2, 2015 in his honour recognizing this outstanding achievement.   His plans were to join the Army after high school and travel the world in honour and defense of the United States.

Travel was something Scott loved to do. He and his mom traveled to 26 out of the 50 States and to 4 countries - he learned to surf with his Australian cousins, went whale watching in Mexico, snorkeled in the Dominican Republic, toured Niagara Falls in Canada.  He even managed to personally introduce himself to Steve Irwin (at age 5 while wearing his khaki shirt) at Australia Zoo in a private area when he convinced a worker to ‘help him find Steve’ as he ‘had flown all the way from the United States to see Steve’. 

Scott had a lot of amazing opportunities, both through his childhood and looking forward.  He made a permanent decision of suicide to an unknown, but what would have been a temporary, issue - which has devastated his family, his friends, his teammates and teachers, neighbours and other parents in his circle.  He is deeply loved and missed a million times every day.