Portrait of Paulette Scott. IMB Photo
Paulette Scott, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados, died June 7, 2025. She was 78.
Paulette was born March 7, 1947, in Plainview, Texas, to the late Jeff and Jewel Greer. After receiving her high school diploma, she attended Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Missouri.
As a child, she came to saving faith in Christ through the influence of her mother, who took her to Sunday school and Girls in Action (a missions discipleship group). While seeking missionary appointment, she recalled it was during these years her interest in missions began to grow.
In 1961, she met Garey Scott, and they were married on July 21, 1962. After their last child was born, they joined First Baptist Church of Tucumcari, New Mexico. She wrote, “It was there that God really began working in my life. He brought two very special women into my life … who by example and encouragement helped me see the need to finish high school, and … who continued to feed the hunger in my life for missions.”
In 1976, she received her high school diploma, and they moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where Garey entered seminary. Over the next several years, through the leadership of their pastor, God continued to work in their lives concerning missions. They took their first mission trip to Brazil in 1981. She wrote, “God used that experience to continue to grow that hunger for missions within me.” In 1984, she began college to fulfill the educational requirements for the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) and continued pursuing her education when they later moved to Arkansas.
While seeking appointment she wrote, “It was at this time Garey and I knew what God wanted us to do. We sold our home, and in January 1989 moved to Kansas City for both of us to attend Midwestern seminary.”
In 1991, the International Mission Board appointed Garey and Paulette missionaries to Guyana, where they planted churches and spread the gospel. One of her greatest joys, her family said, was teaching Bible stories to the wives of foreign embassy personnel in Guyana. They later served in Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados.
She is survived by her husband of almost 63 years, Garey Scott Sr.; her children, Cindy Barrick (Don), Garey Scott Jr. (Trish), and Tammy Vaughn (Jeff); her brother, Fred Greer (Nancy); 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service was held July 11 at Trinity Baptist Church in Benton, Arkansas.
Read an obituary here.