CALLICOON – During last Friday’s snowstorm, 28-year-old Scott Pisall of North Branch, true to his nature, was trying to get to work at Woodloch Pines in Beach Lake, PA.

Unfortunately, Pisall came across a downed tree and power lines on North Branch Rd. at approximately 6:20 a.m. and attempted to turn around his 2015 Chrysler 300. 

According to police, while making a U-turn, the vehicle became entangled in electrical wires from a nearby utility pole. Pisall exited the vehicle and was electrocuted when his foot hit the pavement.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by Emergency Medical Technicians, police said. Sulivan County Undersheriff, Eric Chaboty, noted the Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a vehicle fire on County Route 121, known as North Branch Road, at around 6:20 a.m. Also responding to the scene was Hortonville and North Branch Fire Departments, Upper Delaware Ambulance, Sullivan County EMS, Mobile Medic and Sullivan County Coroner Alan Kesten.

Community mourns loss

His mother, Julie, said Scott was a fun loving guy “who could make people laugh.

“I know he touched so many lives by all the people who have reached out to me,” Julie said. 

A hard worker, Scott had jobs at Roscoe Mtn. Club, Foster Supply Hospitality and most recently at Woodloch Pines.

“He also helped me hang signs for Kiwanis in Callicoon and was a jack-of-all-trades.”

Julie said Scott and his best friend, Phillip, had an apartment in Callicoon but had to move because the building was being sold.

“He was living with us because his apartment in Manor was not quite ready,” Julie said. “He certainly will be missed by a lot of people.”

Many of those people, including close friends, shared their grief of his loss on social media, posting photos and videos of Scott in remembrance of that fun-loving, kind and thoughtful nature.

Looking back over a decade ago, Scott was a former student within the Sullivan West Central School District, where he graduated from in 2014. 

Sullivan West 8th grade earth science teacher and former instructor, Bill Kirk, said of Pisall’s passing, “Scottie was a very kind-hearted and caring young man. I not only knew him as a student but as a good friend to my son when they were classmates in elementary school. I’m heartbroken to hear of his passing. He truly had a beautiful soul and spirit. He will be missed by all who knew him.”

Another former teacher at Sullivan West and close friend of the family is John Ogozalek, who taught social studies at Sullivan West, said that he has been thinking about him since he heard the news.

Ogozalek was responsible in part for the establishment and operation of The Kingfisher Project, a non-profit organized in the wake of the tragic death of Scott’s older sister, Rebecca, 20, in 2014.

“We [Ogozalek and his wife Kirsten Barron] have both been shaken up, it’s such a shock,” he said. “Scott was a smart, creative, funny guy – he had a great sense of humor.”

As a testament to Scott’s attention to the welfare of others, Ogozalek said that when his daughter first started attending higher education College of Saint Rose in Albany, the same that Scott attended following his honorable discharge from the United States Marine Corps, he “went out of his way to help her” in acclimating to the college.

“It has been a gift to know him and the whole family over time,” Ogozalek said. “They showed me how a family can survive tragedy and still go on to help other people, despite it all” – a resilience that defined Scott’s character.

Please see Scott’s complete obituary on page 2B.