Fond Farewell: Business Administration Major Scott Halliburton

Senior Scott Halliburton, a business administration major, passed away August 6. He was 40.

Born March 14, 1980, in Hampton, Virginia, he was raised in Tracy and considered it his hometown. After high school, he put his mechanical talents to work with a job in a sign shop before deciding to enlist in the US Coast Guard, where he would spend the next eight years before being honorably discharged. After meeting his wife, Lauren Buckland, and moving to Yuba City, he worked as a bail agent before they opened Premier Driving School in 2011.

There, his clients recall his sense of humor, witty attitude, and passion for teaching. No part of the business was outside of his ability, as he tackled everything from teaching classes to training instructors, car maintenance to bookkeeping, and website design to advertising. He began to dream of attending law school, and after taking classes at Yuba Community College and American River College, he enrolled at Chico State as a business administration major.

Management Professor Ghadir Ishqaidef taught Halliburton in “Human Resources Management” and said he always made great, mature, and insightful contributions.

“The students in his class totally appreciated the real-life scope on HR,” Ishqaidef said. “He ran his own business, and he was humble and motivated. He worked hard and pushed through.”

Marketing professor Katie Mercurio also found Halliburton to be memorable. As a returning student, he understood all of her marketing pop culture references, and she also enjoyed talking with him one-one-one about their children.

“He was in my class because it was a requirement but he was great at participating, even though he sat in the very back of the classroom. He was very gregarious and enjoyed engaging in debate with his fellow students about a variety of topics,” she said. “In one class session, I show the students an older Kodak ad that features an image that evokes memories of the day your child is born with the audience—he spoke poignantly about his kids during that class session.”

Outside of school, Halliburton loved camping, boating, fishing, traveling, taking mission trips to Mexico, and being with his family. He gave freely of himself, offering his time and expertise to those who needed them, especially putting his skills with machinery and heavy equipment to use. He also had hidden talents, including sewing and embroidery.

Halliburton is survived by his wife, Lauren, sons Austin and Brandon, daughters Miley and Kacey, mother Barbara, brother Steven, and nephew Chance.

The University flag will be lowered Wednesday, August 26, in his memory. A private memorial service will be held in summer 2021 at the US Coast Guard station in Lake Tahoe.