Scott Neff

Scott Neff, 54, passed away on August 6, 2022, in Altoona. He was born in Des Moines on September 5, 1967, to Dennis and Judith Neff.

Scott is survived by his wife, Debra; daughter, Hannah; special pets, Ella and Joey; brother, Cory Neff; nieces and nephews, Caleb Neff, Elizabeth Neff, Cody Hancock and Jeffrey Grummert; father-in-law, Jerry Haeg; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Lori and Jeff Grummert and Lynn and Kelly Hancock; other loving relatives and many special friends. He was preceded in death by his parents.

A memorial visitation will be from 3 to 5 p.m., on Saturday, August 13, 2022, at Hamilton’s Altoona Funeral Home, 105 4th Street SW, Altoona.

Memorial contributions may be directed to an account set up in Hannah’s name at Community State Bank in Altoona, IA.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

Scott lived in Altoona almost his entire life. He went to Altoona Elementary and at the end of 6th grade, the family moved just south of Altoona to the century old farmhouse that the family renovated. He graduated from Southeast Polk High School in 1986. His memories of Altoona and the farm are many…playing with all of the kids on the 5th Street horseshoe, cutting through the yards to get to the old Dairy Queen, and playing little league. Lots of work and play - chopping wood for the furnace, mowing, helping to renovate the house, playing football, learning about computers, and playing Dungeons & Dragons. His pride and joy was rebuilding the 76 Monte Carlo with his dad. Scott was very active in DeMolay. He was honored to serve as State Master Councilor and he credited it with helping to make him the man he became.

During Scott’s senior year, he attended a mock homecoming dance at ValAir Ballroom. There he met the love of his life, Deb. Contrary to his telling, SHE asked him to dance. They dated for 6 years and were married in 1992.

Married life brought a new adventure. He and Deb decided to try their luck in Colorado and moved there in 1993. Scott settled into a life of IT sales and Deb as an administrative assistant. 10 years of fun times, great friends and lots of scenery, and it was time to come home. So they packed up the moving van in a snowstorm and headed back east with their beagle, Buddy.

They quickly settled back into Iowa life and found new joy with bringing a baby girl into the world. From the moment Hannah was born she had her daddy wrapped around her little finger. He was very proud that the job he had when Hannah was a baby allowed him to stay home with her part time. He loved his Hannah and daddy time.

Time flies and baby girls grow into young ladies and daddy was there every step of the way. Daddy Daughter dances, fishing, bike rides, and building so many forts! He was always so proud of Hannah, especially working with her on softball and being her coach. Such a special day when she hit her first out of the park home run and he was the third base coach cheering her on all the way to home!

Scott loved his fur babies. Charlie dog was an amazing companion when he was growing up. He loved the farm cats and his mom’s huskies. Denver brought Buddy into their lives. Though he tried to make sure Buddy bonded with Deb because he was “her” dog, Buddy spent many hours nestled in by Scott’s feet while he was playing computer games. A very special 5th birthday gift to Hannah was her puggle, Ella. Ella may be Hannah’s but dad was always her 2nd best friend. Ella loved sitting in daddy’s slippers, taking naps, and hanging out in the office with him. Joey was added to the family when Scott’s dad passed away. Though a little contentious at first, they became great friends.

Beyond his family, Scott’s number one passion in life was the Chicago Bears. From high school on he was an amazingly dedicated fan. Walter Payton, Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary, and Brian Urlacher were his favorite players. He lived for the draft and was excited about the upcoming “rebuilding” season. One of Scott’s first “adult” jobs was selling movies to video stores. This sparked a lifelong love of movies and a collection of over 500! Typical Friday and Saturday nights were getting the family together to watch at least one, if not two movies a night – with surround sound, of course!

Sadly, Scott’s life was cut way too short. He believed in living every day, moment by moment and enjoying both the big and small things. He leaves behind his loving wife, daughter, puppies and so many family and friends that were very dear to him. Scott would give anything to help anyone he knew. Please dear ones, do not be sad. Scott would want us to remember all of the wonderful times that were spent together.

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