A Homeless Man We All Knew--But Didn't

Bob Flaherty of the Daily Hampshire Gazette put a name to a face that many of us knew during his time on this earth. That was Scott Sadoski, a red-haired bearded homeless man who died last month. I used to drive by Scott almost daily, he was known for having blankets around him and barefeet. He lived in the woods near the Mill River Recreation area in Amherst, and befriended many who worked in shelters that he frequented.

The story told about his funeral service, and how much Sadoski loved native Americans. There the pastor Rev Beverly Prestwood-Taylor talked about his empathy for American Indians, or anyone not getting a fair shake. "He loved all creatures," she said. "To know the secret of death is to see it in the heart of life. Scott believed that life and death are one."

His stepfather remained baffled by his son's choices during his life. "I've worried about him for 28 years," he told the reporter. The homeless man volunteered at Amherst's Survival Center. He was a gentle soul, with a smile that was always there," recalled Cheryl Zoll the center's director. The story followed Sadoski's path, first a high school musician with promise, then to college in Colorado, at Naropa, and then he got a job in his field, environmental science. But something happened, wrote Flaherty. 'He came back to the area of his birth.'

The pastor put in eloquently in her sermon's close. "He was a stranger in a strange land," she said, "The spirit has lifted Scott from this uncomfortable place and let him fly free. May it be so."