Heritage of Black Highlanders Collection, UNCAsheville Ramsey Library
Rev. Ronald Scott, O.F.M., Franciscan:  bhcP77.10.4.3.8

Founder of Saint Anthony's School
Born April 30, 1897
Received August 16, 1922
Professed August 20, 1926
Ordained May 25, 1929
Died October 25, 1974

Ronald was popular in the Franciscan sense of the word: people liked him and he liked people.
A pioneer among the black people in the South from 1933 to 1945, he built three churches in North and South Carolina.  At Paso Robles, California, he was a fatherly guide to boys who needed help.  In Phoenix, Arizona, he served both the Little Sisters of the Poor and their guests, and patients at Good Samaritan Hospital.  The final ten years of his life were devoted to pastoral ministry to the people at Our Lady's Chapel in New Bedford, Mass.  When he was celebrating the fortieth anniversary of his priesthood in 1969, Scotty said: "If I've been successful in my work, it's because I've always had a smile for everyone."  He was successful.
MAY HE REST IN PEACE.

Rev. Ronald Scott, O.F.M., came to Asheville in 1935. Bought the house at 55 Walton Street where he lived until he completed St. Anthony's School in 1936. He then moved across the street to No. 56, which had been used as a chapel until the main building was complete. 55 Walton then became the convent for the teaching staff, and the chapel had been built into the center of the new school building. A Franciscan priest, he was organizer, builder and head of the school and church. A missionary of the Franciscan Order.