Franciscan Brother Scott William Slattum

Franciscan Brother Scott William Slattum, OFM, 49, passed away suddenly from a fatal heart attack on November 19, 2023 in Phoenix. He was born on August 1, 1974, in Salem, Oregon, to LeRoy and Arlene (Macnab) Slattum. He was the middle child between two brothers: Eric and Jeffery. Scott was proud to have Viking blood from his father’s side. He shared how he was almost given the name of one of the Viking gods, like Odin or Thor. On his mother’s side, he believed that they were descendants of the druids in Scotland. This would set as the background of the many stories of supernatural events in his family life. 

In school, Scott excelled in numerous extra-curricular activities and won multiple awards: basketball athlete, Friend of the Year, Leader of the Year, Student of the Year, Business Student of the Year for the Pacific Northwest, local Chamber of Commerce’s Student Entrepreneur of The Year, and even placing in the top 10 in a national speech competition.

Scott then became a Youth Minister in the Diocese of Baker in Oregon. He later moved back to be with his family in Salem and worked at Willamette University. During this time, a local Catholic Church invited him to head up a house of hospitality for young adults, named “The Little Way Home.” However, it was when he served as Youth Minister and Director of Religious Education in rural Hood River, OR that he gave all of himself to ministry: preparing a yearly average of 140 first communions, 110 baptisms, 120 confirmations; building, scheduling, and maintaining a soccer field; directing a bilingual soccer program for 600 youth; founding a drop-in center for migrant and Hispanic youth and a youth coffee house; serving in county and state level boards for health, family, and alcohol, tobacco, drug prevention.

Scott entered the formation program with the Franciscan Friars in 2009. He served in music, catechetical, and retreat ministries in Northern California, including at his home base St. Elizabeth Parish in Oakland. He was then assigned to St. Mary’s Basilica in Phoenix, AZ. Here, as a Franciscan friar, he went back to the ministries which he had always loved: religious education and youth/young adults. In a place that could not be more different than his first love, Oregon, he had fallen in love again with the people at St. Mary’s. They, in turn, fell in love with this gentle giant.

Scott loved to remind people of his life’s mission statement: “to gather, to live, and be present with openness and freedom, while safeguarding the dignity of God’s children.” In all his interactions, he always treated everybody with respect, dignity, and compassion. Scott attributed this to being surrounded by a lot of firstborns (his father, mother, and older brother), that he had to be the peacemaker within his family. His family often described him as the “Heart of the Family.”

However, a bigger factor might have been his own journey of self-acceptance, which he shared a lot with those closest to him. He shared that his favorite scripture passage was the woman at the well, who said: “He (Jesus) told me everything about me, and still loved me.” 

May Scott now experience fully that acceptance coming from Jesus himself, his savior and friend.

The Mass of Christian Burial for our beloved Br. Scott Slattum, OFM will be at St. Mary’s Basilica, 231 N. Third St., Phoenix, AZ. on Thursday, November 30, 2023 at 10:00 a.m., preceded by a Rosary and eulogies at 9:00 a.m. Interment will follow immediately after mass at St. Francis Cemetery. After the internment, all are invited to a reception back at St. Mary’s Social Hall. 

The mass will be live-streamed on St. Mary’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@st.marysbasilica-phoenixaz4634/streams