Remembering Scott Fertig

I woke up this morning and checked the news, as I always do, and was shocked to find a news obituary on Scott Fertig, someone I knew in high school. He was (it's so strange using the word "was", so past tense) one of the most talented, hard working, sweetest people I've ever known. We met in the ninth grade at a Saturday art class at the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History in Pittsburgh. Then for the following three years, we were both enrolled in the Saturday Pre-College Art Program at Carnegie Mellon. I probably learned as much from studying his work as I did from any of my professors. Scott had such focus and attention to detail and this fascination with things, and what was great was that he shared that. He used to point out things, teaching me how to see with an artist's eyes.
I'd often wondered what happened to him after high school. I haven't seen him since seeing him back in the College of Fine Arts building at Carnegie Mellon in 1985. But a few years ago I found he had a web site, and I just went back to look at that. Then I found his blogs.
I never knew until looking at his web site that he created the mural in the Strip District near the 16th Street Bridge. I've always loved that mural, and I'm finding some comfort in knowing it's there.