MUNCIE, Ind. — This year has been the best professionally and worst personally for Jeff Scott.

On Oct. 23, he was named chancellor of the Muncie campus of Ivy Tech Community College.

On Jan. 6 — the day he buried his mother — his 30-year-old daughter Brittney's sepsis infection ended in multiple organ dysfunction and death.

Two months earlier, doctors had warned Brittney after replacing a damaged heart valve — related to her heroin addiction — that the sepsis would return if she started using again. They told her there would be little they could do next time.

"My mom was ill and knew her time was coming," Scott said. "She passed on New Year's Eve. We kind of knew that's when she would pass. That's when my sister passed 51 years earlier, at age 6, on New Year's Eve."

Five days later, on the day his mother was being buried, Scott received a text that his daughter had died. "The funeral director wondered why we were so upset, because we had gotten through (his mother's visitation) OK the day before," Scott said.

He doesn't mind talking about Brittney's death. The family didn't hide anything in her obituary, referring to her hard-fought battle with addiction. The honesty prompted a flood of support from friends, relatives and strangers.

"Brit now has peace and comfort, and her demons died with her," Scott was quoted as saying in the obituary. "I don't think she was ever going to escape them. They haunted her, and the demons impacted all those who loved her. … Her peace and comfort now can allow us to not worry about her anymore, to not be angry with her for decisions anymore. We can rejoice in that she did get rid of her demons. In a way, she is protecting everyone who loved her and everyone she loved."

Examples of strangers' online condolences:

• "I did not know your daughter, but I do know the story and I understand exactly. I will be praying for your family."

• "Although I did not know your daughter/family, I send my deepest condolences … This demon that lives inside of us has such control and the grasp on our every move in every decision it's sickening … maybe I am a little out of place in saying so but your daughter loved you all the time…"

• "Thank you for this touching obituary. I lost my husband Jan. 6 to addiction … If only one life is saved by our loss then it was all worth it."

• "The obituary brought me to tears … I just hope others seeing this and reading the outpour of people that didn't even know Brittney will show you that people care and show that this is an epidemic taking over… "

Scott said: "When you see someone in their 20s or 30s pass, especially in East Central Indiana, most people know what it is. It's kind of important to tell that story … so people understand addiction but also tell Brittney's story. Her personality was fun-loving. Everybody knew she loved her kids. I said, 'She did, but just not enough.'"

She was a graduate of Mississinewa High School in Gas City, an animal lover, a mushroom hunter, a Donald Duck fan, had worked in home health care and as a farmhand and, like other members of her family, loved Disney World.

Scott has visited Disney World about 30 times since 1973. He was about 10 years old when his parents took him for the first time. "I started taking my kids soon after I got married," he said. "My oldest son now takes his kids, or we all go down together."

Scott had planned to take Brittney and her two kids with the family to Disney World in 2017. "If you're not using, you're welcome," he told her. "If you're using, you've got to get yourself clean. It was kind of tough love. With my background in criminal justice and probation, I know those people have to save themselves first and foremost."

What's the Scott family's fascination with Disney World?

"It's the happiest place on earth," Scott said. "Where you just never have to grow up. It's magical. People laugh at me. I'm six-one, 200 pounds with a goatee and a shaved head. I always go to the Magic Kingdom on the first day. You get up at 5:30 … at the entrance I'd tear up every year, and I don't tear up or cry very often. It's just some place you can embrace the magic, see the kids' faces light up, watch the freedom from all worries. I know my grandkids will take their kids there as well."

Scott and his wife celebrated Brittney's birthday this year at the entertainment complex.

"My youngest flew down and joined us for a few days," Scott said. "We celebrated Brit's birthday down there on her birthday, April 6. It was kind of neat. The (U.S. Navy's) Blue Angels did flyovers down Main Street. It was something special. We had Brit with us (her ashes). We make sure she's with us when we go on trips."

What will Scott never forget about Brit's death?

"I asked myself if she was waiting on me to come rescue her, come and save her," he said. "I always wonder if she was waiting for daddy to come and get her. Love your family a little harder. Celebrate life to the fullest. Don't sweat the small stuff. Definitely don't hold onto grudges or anger. You just don't know when you will not get that chance to make things right."

In 2011, Scott started the Rhonda K. Scott Memorial Scholarship at Ivy Tech, honoring his sister who died more than half a century ago, when she was 6 and he was 3. It is for students with financial need who enroll in the School of Public Services or School of Education.

After his daughter died, Scott changed the name of the scholarship to the Rhonda K. and Brittney L. Scott Memorial Scholarship.

Donations may be sent to the Ivy Tech Foundation, 345 S. High St., Muncie, Ind. 47305, (identify the name of the scholarship). Or donations can be made electronically, at www.ivytech.edu/giving. Click on "Give Now," then "East Central Region," then "designation," then "other," and identify the name of the scholarship.

Seth Slabaugh is education reporter at The Star Press who can be reached at (765) 213-5834 or seths@muncie.gannett.com.