Alma Lee Ellis and Charles E. Scott

Mrs. Jean S. Sinclair along with husband Robert H. Sinclair and her family established the Alma Lee Ellis and Charles E. Scott Memorial Nursing Scholarship in 1993 to honor Jean’s parents. Mrs. Alma Lee Ellis Scott was an active member of the Kingston United Methodist Church for many years; teaching Sunday School and directing the choir. She was a Teacher in the Roane County Schools until she married Charles E. Scott. Mrs. Scott taught at Cave Creek, Little Emory and Paint Rock. It was recalled that while at Cave Creek children would often come to school having had no breakfast. She would bring food from home and prepare breakfast for them on the wood stove in the schoolroom. She attended Tennessee Tech every other quarter, traveling mostly by train. On her off quarters she worked for her mother at the Ellis Café adjacent to the Kingston High School, Junior High and Elementary schools. When the lunch bell rang all the students came to the Café! Her family homesite and Café were eventually sold to Roane County High School for the school’s expansion.

Mr. Charles E. Scott first came to Kingston in the early 1940’s as an employee of TVA and met Alma Lee at the Café. After World War II, Charles bought a local gas station, and later bought the gas distributorship. Alma Lee began managing elements of the distributorship while Charles began building houses. He built a number of subdivisions in the surrounding communities, but he eventually became interested in modular construction, which led him to develop Scottish Inns of America. After selling Scottish Inns in 1974, he continued as a developer and contractor. He and Alma Lee continued to own Midtown Oil Company, and various other businesses including the Minute Stores and the Scottie’s Hamburger chain. Mr. Scott was also very active in the Kingston Methodist Church.
Mr. Scott had many articles published about him with write-ups in The Wall Street Journal, Changing Times, Forbes, Business Week, etc. He was named Kingston Businessman of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce in 1973. He loved his work and the Roane County area, and lived at the same home place throughout his married life.

As Mr. and Mrs. Scott aged, care giving needs became great. The family often called upon Roane State’s nursing program to find nursing students to assist. The help from Roane State continues to be deeply appreciated.
Keeping in mind the parents dedication to education for young people led to the establishment of the Alma Lee Ellis and Charles E. Scott Memorial Nursing Scholarship with the Roane State Foundation. Thanks to the Roane State nursing program, both Alma Lee’s and Charles’ end of life quality was improved.

The Roane State Foundation received memorial gifts to begin funding this wonderful scholarship which has become a legacy and has been a great benefit to many students over the years.

The Family also maintains a beautiful Memorial Garden area and Pavilion which they open up for the public to use for holding events (with reservations only). It is a lovely venue and can be found at www.ellis-scottpavilion.com