C. Scott Elliott, a former WCET-TV senior vice president who died at home Saturday, was respected for his public TV fund-raising and the courage with which he faced death.

        Mr. Elliott, 52, took a disability retirement in November during his battle with cholangio carcinoma, a rare cancer, and primary sclerosing cholangitis, the diseases that killed football star Walter Payton in 1999.

        He spent his final months staying in touch with friends from throughout the Public Broadcasting Service system, many of whom came to his Mount Lookout home for a final visit with him.

        “Scott has defined, in the determined dignity of his final days, the manner in which he lived his life - quietly, thoughtfully, intelligently, and with a sensitivity to those around him,” said W. Wayne Godwin, the former Channel 48 general manager now working as a national PBS vice president in Alexandria, Va.

        In a March Enquirer interview, Mr. Elliott spoke candidly about death and life. He said he confronted his mortality in 1997, when he required two liver transplants.

        “I consider myself a very lucky fellow at this point. I know that sounds crazy to say out loud, but I do,” he said in a March 18 story.

        “I went through the death issues with the transplant process (in 1997),” Mr. Elliott said. “When you're on the transplant list, it changes you ... It sharpens your senses to an amazing degree. You don't really appreciate living until you've faced the issue of dying.”

        He spent his final months catching up with friends and spending countless hours with his wife, Lori.

        They had met while working together at WNED-TV in Buffalo, and married shortly before he was hired as Channel 48's development director in 1988.

        The couple have no children.

        In his 28-year public TV career, he raised more than $100 million for public TV stations in Detroit, Buffalo and Cincinnati.

        His fund-raising efforts were recognized by PBS, which named him Development Professional of the Year in the early 1990s.

        He was an active volunteer for LifeCenter, Cincinnati's regional organ donation center, and was chairman of Crayons to Computers, the free store for teachers. Mr. Elliott was board chairman of the program, which grew out of his 1995 Leadership Cincinnati class. The Bond Hill store has given $12 million in merchandise and supplies to teachers, he said in March.

        “Scott Elliott had a big effect on my career, and on how I live my life,” said Phil Meyer, former Channel 48 marketing director and now station manager for the PBS affiliate in Bloomington, Ind.

        “He was not only a mentor to me, but also to dozens of people at PBS stations across the country,” Mr. Meyer said. “These dedicated professionals are his legacy, raising millions of dollars as he did for public television.”

        Mr. Elliott was born in Newark, Ohio. After earning a liberal arts degree from Denison University, and a master's in speech communication at the University of Maryland, he began his public TV career at WGSF-TV in Newark.

        While at Channel 48, he served in a dual capacity as vice president and director of broadcasting for WPTD-TV/WPTO-TV, which operates public TV stations in Dayton and Oxford, in 2000-01.

        He was a founding member of the PBS Ethics Task Force, a member of the Cincinnati Rotary Club and was instrumental in the opening of the Channel 48 Store of Knowledge in Kenwood Towne Centre.

        Mr. Elliott is survived by his wife; a daughter, Betty Ann Morgan, of Newark; brother, Jesse, of Northbrook, Ill.; and many nieces and nephews.

        The service is 11 a.m. Thursday at Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, 1345 Grace Ave. Visitation is 5-9 p.m. Wednesday at Elden A. Good Funeral Home, 2620 Erie Ave., Hyde Park, and Thursday from 9-11 a.m. at the church. Burial is in Spring Grove Cemetery.

        Memorials: C. Scott Elliott Scholarship Fund, c/o Crayons to Computers, 1250 Tennessee Ave., Cincinnati, OH. 45229, or Scott Elliott Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, 200 W. 4th St., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45202.

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