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March 28, 2018
Screenshot from Facebook.

Carrie Beth Lutin-Scott died early on March 14 as the sun was rising over the canyon outside her Pacific Palisades home, where she was surrounded by her family, after a battle with cancer. She was 60.

She is survived by her husband of almost 32 years, Michael B. Scott, and children Rachel, Zachary and Shoshanna, as well as parents Evy and Martin Lutin, and her sister Robin Lutin.

Carrie was born Jan. 15, 1958, and raised in Encino. She often related the stories of how pop singing legend Michael Jackson and his family lived around the corner, and how she met Ringo Starr at a neighborhood party. Lutin-Scott attended Birmingham High School, graduating a semester early in 1976 and matriculating to UC Santa Barbara.

Lutin-Scott transferred to the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she graduated in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in communications.

Although she loved her college experience, during her junior year, she decided to travel the world on a program called Semester at Sea.

Lutin-Scott told friends and family that when she approached her father to tell him that she wanted to travel the world, he replied, “How much would that cost?” She said, “Oh, I think around $9,000.” Her father paused and told her, “Well, Carrie, if you really want to go, you will have to pay for it yourself.”

So Lutin-Scott went on the game show “The Hollywood Squares” and won not only $15,000 but also a car and trailer. She again approached her father and said, “Dad, as you know, I now have enough money for Semester at Sea. Since you are saving money by not paying for my college tuition this semester, what do you think about giving me some extra money for the trips I want to take along the way?” Her father agreed with the idea and gave her the money.

Lutin-Scott’s negotiating skills served her well during 20 years of selling advertising space in the automotive industry, where after her first year she was the top salesperson on a nationwide sales team of 120.

Lutin-Scott’s husband, Michael, describes their relationship as a “great love affair.” While both were in their late 20s and living in Southern California, fate placed them on the same bus in Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1985. Lutin-Scott and her mother were in the city to lobby for a Jewish mission, and Michael had traveled there to attend a wedding.

During the bus ride, Lutin-Scott turned around in her seat and spotted an attractive young man seated in the back. She got up and walked down the aisle. Michael later described how he looked up from his newspaper to see this woman in a bright blue dress heading his way and thought, “Oh, boy, here comes trouble!” They became engaged three months later and married on June 21, 1986.

They honeymooned in Papua New Guinea and, in 1991, moved to a house in Pacific Palisades, which was soon filled with three children. The couple hosted pool parties, cookouts, birthday parties, prom parties, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts fundraisers, Friday night Shabbat and Sunday night neighborhood dinners.

Lutin-Scott was involved in Kehillat Israel’s early childhood development program, served on the Southern California board of Birthright Israel Foundation, the board of the University of Colorado Parent Fund and chaired the United Jewish Fund Automotive Division.

She volunteered at her children’s schools and drove students on field trips in her GMC Denali, the “big blue bus.” As their children progressed through school, Lutin-Scott supported their sports teams, musical productions and arts programs.

As their children became young adults, she and Michael moved a few blocks away into a home they had built. In the past few years, she played paddle tennis and mahjong. Lutin-Scott was an avid skier, scuba diver, tennis and paddle tennis player, hiker, photographer and traveler.

Donations can be made in Lutin-Scott’s memory to the Team Carrie — Carrie Strong Foundation by visiting givebox.com/1154.

For further information, email Michael B. Scott at mscott@narvidscott.com. 

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