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An Oregon City High School guidance counselor who shot himself Thursday was suffering from health problems that had kept him out of school since the summer.
In a letter to students, Oregon City High School Principal Nancy Bush-Lange wrote that Scott Boxell, 31, collapsed at work in June and had been in medical leave since the beginning of the year. He was found dead in a campground near Estacada Thursday.
“For those of you who knew Scott, this news is impossible to believe,” Bush-Lange wrote. “Scott was a healthy, vibrant young man whom we all loved.”
Boxell was the chair of the counseling department at the high school for four years.
A response team including support from the neighboring Gladstone and North Clackamas School Districts met Thursday night, and Oregon City officials said counseling support would be available for students. In addition, the District Attorney’s Victim Assistance Office and the Clackamas County TIPS (Trauma Intervention Program) will have support staff available to provide assistance to staff and students.
Boxell had served as an assistant in the Oregon City boys basketball program. He is the second member of the high school’s counseling team that died this year. Counselor Carol Atwood died in February.
Are they sure it was suicide? Maybe there was something else going on? Was his wife trying to leave him? Boxell seemed like such a good, solid, well balanced person without any signs of depression, sadness, or anger (typical reasons why people kill themselves). No one I know saw this coming? It's really tragic.
(email verified)
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 04:51 PM
Scott WAS healthy before the summer, then he had a illness that led to this.
The illness he had it made him incapable to sleep. You would be crazy if you couldn't sleep for 2 to 4 months. He was defiantly not thinking straight when he killed him self.
I go to OCHS and he was one of the last people who ever think of suicide.
(email verified)
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 06:33 PM
I did not know Scott, but from what I have read he did alot for his "kids". It takes a truly special person to give so much of yourself to others.
My maternal grandparents(when I was 5)and my mother(2004) all died from suicide. It is my firm belief that those who take their own lives do so because they feel there is no other solution. May he be at peace.
(email verified)
Sat, Oct 31, 2009 at 01:29 AM
Mr. Boxell saved my son from failing in H.S. He referred my son to a program where he successfully graduated with a H.S. diplomma, for that I will always remember how kind he was to us when we were having problems. It is hard to understand why when this happens but you really have to look back on the good he did and know that was really the person he was.
We hope he has peace now.
(email verified)
Sun, Nov 01, 2009 at 09:28 AM
It is to my understanding that Scott had an illness that kept him from sleeping. He had the equivalance to a weeks worth of sleep over a 5 month period. The man was not in the normal state of mind, when he took his life. I have heard nothing but good from those who knew him. He will be missed. I think at this time his family needs to be remembered in prayer.
(email verified)
Sun, Nov 01, 2009 at 02:58 PM
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Re: OCHS counselor who was found dead suffered from health problems
"This article contradicts itself when it says this man was "suffering from health problems that had kept him out of school since the summer", then a school spokesperson writes "Scott was a healthy, vibrant young man whom we all loved".
Whatever the situation, any way you slice it, and regardless of how great a person he was, this is the single most selfish act anyone can ever do. My heart is broken for his young wife and child, extended family, friends, and students of this man who will spend the rest of their lives never understanding why he did this to them.
To those left to grieve - You will remain in our prayers for strength to face life, and God's love to fill your emptiness. May God's Presence, Power, and Peace overrule our human limitations and nulify our fears. May He demonstrate His Glory to us, in us, and through us, both on the mountains, and in the valleys of our journey."
"latte lover"
(email verified)
Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 04:33 PM