Obituary of Scott Thomas Hager

Scott Thomas Hager, 55, long-term Santa Cruz County resident, passed away peacefully at his Capitola home on September 29, 2016 surrounded by family and friends. Scott was born March 22, 1961, in Rockford, Illinois, son of June and Lynn Hager. He grew up in the Chicago, IL and Columbus, OH suburbs. In 1982, Scott suffered a diving accident which resulted in a spinal cord injury. He became an active wheelchair athlete, and his participation in sports, especially swimming, propelled him to win national and world records. He was chosen to be on the U.S. Paralympic Swim Team for the 1988 Seoul, Korea, Paralympic Games, winning a bronze medal in the butterfly stroke. In 1989, Scott moved to San Jose, CA, to continue to participate in wheelchair sports as well as earn a bachelor's degree in psychology at San Jose State University in 1993. In California, he also added wheelchair rugby to his sports repertoire, traveling the state for rugby matches with his teams, San Jose "Sting" and Berkeley "Quadzilla." Scott utilized medical marijuana to control the violent spasms of his muscles and bladder associated with quadriplegia. Once he relocated to Santa Cruz, Scott began actively lobbying for the legalization of medical marijuana, working closely with the Santa Cruz Citizens for Medical Marijuana and others. California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Proposition 215) was written for Scott Hager, according to its co-author Dennis Peron. Scott's family and Santa Cruz friends would like to publicly thank Hospice of Santa Cruz County for their tender and loving treatment of Scott. Santa Cruz has a large heart…and the doctors, nurses, and personnel of Hospice Santa Cruz keep it beating. Scott was wrapped in love and surrounded by family and friends. He is survived by his partner, Virginia Montes, of Santa Cruz, his family, and countless friends. Scott loved so many things about Santa Cruz: the ocean, the people, the weather, farmer's market, and biking along West Cliff. Mostly, he liked to be nice to people and share his unique outlook on life. If you remember Scott, just be kind to each other; if you didn't know Scott, just be kind to each other.