Portal:Scouting/Selected biography archive/2008

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2006 2007 2008

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• Jan 31, 2008 - Edward Michael Law Yone (born February 5, 1911 at Kamaing, Myitkyina District (now Kachin State), Burma). At 16 he went to work as a clerk in the Burma-China border frontier service. He joined the Burma Railways in 1930 as a probationer and by 1938 was in charge of the rates and commercial section, traveling in that year over the recently constructed Burma Road to survey the route proposed for linking the Burma and Yunnan-Indochina Railways. Law Yone was one of the very first recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts, in 1959. Law Yone was a member of the Executive Committee of the Union of Burma Boy Scouts, and was an active promoter of Scouting, taking the lead in fundraising activities and traveling to international Scouting meetings.

• Feb 29, 2008 - Robert J. Mazzuca (b. 1947) is the Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America. He is the eleventh person to hold that position, with his term starting in 2007. Mazzuca first became involved in Scouting as a boy, joining Boy Scout Troop 28 (now 428) and earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1964. While a Scout he attended Camp Pico Blanco of the Monterey Bay Area Council for four summers, including two as staff. Mazzuca was inducted into the Order of the Arrow as a member of Esselen Lodge. In 1970, Mazzuca received a bachelor of arts in history from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Mazzuca began his Scouting professional career in 1971 in Modesto, California as a district executive and as an Exploring executive. He became the Exploring director in Sacramento in 1975 and rose to the positions of field director and the director of field service. In 1983, Mazzuca became the Scout executive in Stockton, California. He later served as an area director in the Western Region before returning to Sacramento as the Scout executive. In 1992 he became the assistant regional director for the Southern Region and in 1995 he became the Scout executive of the Greater Pittsburgh Council. In 2005, he became the national director of the development group at the National Council and in 2006 became the assistant Chief Scout Executive. Mazzuca is a lifetime member of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting.

• Mar 31, 2008 - Lieutenant Colonel David Cossgrove served in the South African War with Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Scouts and Guides in the United Kingdom. Cossgrove took Baden-Powell's ideas back to New Zealand with him and began Scouting and Peace Scouts in Christchurch.

• Apr 30, 2008 - Betty Clay was the daughter of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. She herself was the holder of the Bronze Wolf from the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and the Silver Fish from the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). She was active in Scouting and Guiding throughout her life. She married Gervas Clay in 1936 and lived in Northern Rhodesia until 1964 when both moved to England. She was a cub scout leader and also an active Guider eventually becoming Colony Commissioner for Guides. When they moved to England she was President of the South West Region for the Guide Association from 1970-1991. In 1978 she was appointed a vice-president of the Guide Association. In 1985 she became a vice-president of the Scout Association.

• May 31, 2008 - William D. Boyce (1858–1929), was an American newspaper man and entrepreneur, best known today for founding the Boy Scouts of America and the Lone Scouts of America. By the early 20th century, Boyce was a multi-millionaire. He had traveled the world and lived his dream, but, at 51, Boyce grew weary of financial success and turned his attention to philanthropy. He turned to his childhood as a resource, but could not find the answer until a fateful stop to England while en route to what became a failed photographic expedition to Africa and met the famous Unknown Scout.

• Jun 30, 2008 - Steve Fossett (April 22, 1944 – missing September 3, 2007, declared legally dead February 15, 2008) was an American aviator, sailor, and adventurer who became the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon. He was also a member of the World Scout Committee and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award recipient. He made his fortune in the financial services industry and was best known for many world records, including five nonstop circumnavigations of the Earth: as a long-distance solo balloonist, as a sailor, and as a solo flight fixed-wing aircraft pilot. A fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club, Fossett set 116 records in five different sports, 60 of which still stand. Fossett was reported missing after the plane he was flying over the Nevada desert failed to return. Despite a month of searches by the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and others, Fossett could not be found, and the search by CAP was called off on October 2, 2007. However, privately-funded and directed search efforts continued. On November 2, 2007, Peggy Fossett and Dick Rutan accepted the Spread Wings Award in Steve Fossett's behalf at the 2007 Spreading Wings Gala, Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, Denver, Colorado. On November 26, 2007, Fossett's wife requested that Fossett be declared legally dead.