Robert Scott Bennie
March 28th, 2022
BENNIE, Robert Scott (June 24, 1960 – March 28, 2022).
Scott Bennie was born at MSA Hospital in Abbotsford and attended Alexander Elementary, then Abbotsford Junior and Senior Secondaries. At the latter, he was chosen in two consecutive years to be part of the school’s team on the CBC-TV student challenge series Reach for the Top.
Scott was elected student council president at Abbotsford Senior in 1977. He appeared before the Board of School District No. 34 to speak on behalf of students after the school principal ordered mandatory Bible readings and a prayer before the start of classes for the day.
He was also an amateur wrestler in high school and competed in tournaments throughout B.C. and the U.S. Northwest. At the same time, he wrote a column on wrestling for the ASM News.
Scott attended UBC with the intention of following his parents into the teaching profession. Instead, he found an interest in gaming and ended up writing and contributing to a long list of computer games, including developing Fallout, while working for Interplay. He was a big fan of Star Trek from its days when it first ran on television in the 1960s, as well as Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings. He designed games based on them both; Bill Shatner recorded a voice track for one of his Star Trek games. A full list of the titles of the games he was involved with can be found on-line.
When the Tech Bubble burst, Scott returned from California to live with his mother in Abbotsford.
He was also involved with the Grace Church in Abbotsford, which was originally on Busby Street, several blocks from where he grew up in an area populated at the time by swamps and cow pastures.
He had been dealing with ailments for several years prior to his death at the replacement for the MSA Hospital.
Scott is predeceased by his parents Jim (1981) and Alice (2005). He is survived by his brother Jim (Vancouver) and sister Pat (Youbou) and cousins Rob (Hopkins Landing) and Sheahan (Dilke, Saskatchewan), as well as innumerable friends in the gaming community.
A graveside service will be held Saturday, April 30, 2022, at 11 a.m. at the Hazelwood Cemetery, 34070 Hazelwood Avenue, Abbotsford, with a reception to follow at the Grace Church, 2087 McMillan Road, Abbotsford.
Messages:
I knew Scott through Champions Online. His character Thundrax became an example to all of us. He was honest, kind, hard-working, thrifty and loyal. He had a good sense of humor and his own style. He gave where he could, helped when he was able. He made people feel welcome, comfortable, that you could talk to him and he would listen. Thundrax treated everyone like they were a dear friend. I think a lot of that was Scott himself, keeping his own experiences and hardships in mind, rising above them and showing all of us -through Thundrax- that we could make things better, in small ways and in big ones. That we can make every tomorrow great: we just have to try. I greatly enjoyed the events he ran over the years. I regret not knowing him as well as I would have liked. But more than that, he was my friend and like all good people, gone far too soon.
I am deeply saddened by the loss of Scott, who was one of the nicest, kindest people I've ever had the privilege to know. I first met him in person at DunDraCon (in, if memory serves, 1994) after years of enjoying his writing for Hero Games. We became good friends, and as I transitioned into full-time RPG writing myself and eventually became one of the owners of Hero Games, I was quite pleased to get to work with him on several projects. Not only I, but the entire Hero Games community, will miss him.
I am deeply saddened by the loss of Scott, who was one of the nicest, kindest people I've ever had the privilege to know. I first met him in person at DunDraCon (in, if memory serves, 1994) after years of enjoying his writing for Hero Games. We became good friends, and as I transitioned into full-time RPG writing myself and eventually became one of the owners of Hero Games, I was quite pleased to get to work with him on several projects. Not only I, but the entire Hero Games community, will miss him.
Thank you Scott for our 60+ years of friendship. Our time together, spawned so many long lasting friendships that lasted the test of time. We had truly our Seasons In The Sun but I know that this is not the end. Goodbye my old friend, will see you, my friend on the other side. You time of Joy has begun and I will join you shortly. I give my condolences to his family. The world is diminished by his passing on.
I first met Scott my first year of senior high and later had the privilege of playing in one of his D&D campaigns. He still remains to this day the best DM I’ve ever encountered.
You couldn't ask for a more friendly and generous man in the Champions Online community, Scott, as his alter ego, Thundrax, always made time for people. Even if it was only just saying hello. He was also incredibly humble, some with the acolytes and credits he had in the gaming community would lord their accomplishments over others, but Scott was incredibly humble and most only found out what he'd done in the industry after his passing. Most just knew him as Thundrax, you knew he was famous, but maybe not why. When he returned from an illness last year I was able to tell him what he meant to me and what I felt he meant to the CO community and I'm so thankful I got that opportunity but I wish I'd spent more time with the man and enjoyed what little time we had left with him. I'm so sorry for his friends and family, if he could make that kind of an impression on us though the game I can't imagine what loosing him in the flesh would be like, all I can say is he was loved and he will be missed.
Scott and I only met once, face to face, at Dundracon. I played Champions and was impressed to meet anyone involved in game design. Our friendship continued online and we discovered at one point we shared birthdays. I loved reading what he wrote and he could have quite a good sense of humor. I know he's found a place in heaven. Wish I could be at the funeral. Hugs to Pat.
I am so sorry for the loss of a wonderful man. He was a wonderful friend in the time I've met him through Champions Online back in 2010. He will be missed immensely and offer nothing but condolences to his brother and sister. He will be missed.
Nice to see so many nice tributes about Scott from a side of his life I (his cousin) knew nothing about. My memories of Scott center around his family visiting mine in Hopkins and us all spending time together at the beach - he was the "little cousin." Later on he and Pat would come up to visit my dad and we would see each other then. But as for the computer side of things, I only knew that he went off to California to do computer games and didn't know what that entailed and had no idea how well respected he was in the gaming community. Thanks for sharing those thoughts.