Casey “Scott” (Davis) Barnum was born on June 16, 1960, in Casper WY. He
took his first breath in heaven on November 17, 2021, at Swedish Medical
Center, Englewood, CO.
As a child, Scott lived in Denver, Fort Collins, Boulder, and moved to
Colby in 1972 when his parents, John and Shirley Barnum, were called to
the Colby Presbyterian Church. He graduated from Colby High School in
1979 and bought his first house the following summer. Remodeling and
renting houses became a business as he also worked for Colby Glass. He
met Jan Coffey Thanksgiving of 1985 where someone asked Scott how many
houses he had. Jan thought he was crazy when he answered “14”….. little
did she know! Scott and Jan married on July 12, 1986, in Colby, KS.
Scott and Jan opened a music store, “The Music Staff” together in 1986.
In 1992, Scott started working as an auto and home adjuster for American
Family Insurance, balancing the growing rental business with Jan at his
side. Their first child, Amanda, was born that year. He was a proud new
dad and was more so with the addition of a son, Matt, in 1996. Scott
was involved with his kids, attending ball games, scout meetings,
school, and church events as much as he could. In 2003, Scott was proud
to complete his pilot’s license. In recent years, he was an active
member of the Barbershop Tumbleweed Chorus and the High Plains
Barbershop Chorus.
After his family, the church was his passion. Scott was a member of
Colby United Methodist Church and became a Lay Leader, holding that
position for several years. He then became a Lay Speaker, filling in for
absent pastors both in his home church and others. He conducted several
memorial services for family friends and was honored to officiate at
his son’s wedding last June. Scott helped set up the Colby UMC live
radio broadcast that has run for over twenty years, and he continued as a
sound technician as often as he could. He helped with different mission
projects, helping with Habitat for Humanity in Cheyenne, WY, Great
Plains Camps, local missions, and church maintenance projects. Most
recently, Scott was Hays District Director of Lay Servant Ministries and
on the Great Plains Conference Board of Trustees, both of which he
enjoyed immensely. Helping others is perhaps what he was most well known
for.
Scott retired from American Family after twenty-five years and worked
full-time on the rental business. Over the most recent years, he worked
to see his dream of building a lake house at Grand Lake in Oklahoma come
true, drawing his own house plans, overseeing major construction, and
doing the detail work himself. The house was built on the site of an
original family property, and Scott worked diligently to retain the
sentimental value he and others placed on the original components he was
able to incorporate into the design of the house. He spent as much time
there as he could and planned to retire there full-time in the future.
Scott was preceded in death by his biological father, J.G. Davis and
wife Ellen. Survivors include his wife, Jan (Coffey); daughter Amanda,
of Meade, KS; son Matt (Ashley), of Talmage, NE; parents, John and
Shirley Barnum, of Colby; brothers Grant (Carol), of Osage Beach, MO,
Evan (Regena), of Colby and a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, and
friends that he loved without ceasing.
Services will be held at the Colby United Methodist Church on Monday,
November 22, 2021, at 10:30 am. Visitation will be held at Baalmann
Mortuary Sunday, November 21, 2021, from 4-7 pm.
Memorials will be given to the CUMC radio ministry and scholarships to the GPC Lay Servant Ministry and can be sent in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701. For information or condolences visit www.baalmannmortuary.com