Obituary of Scott Spencer Dennis

April 8^th, 1986 – May 20^th, 2026     

It is with profound sadness that we announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Scott on May 20th, 2026. 

He is survived by his loving wife and partner of over twenty years, Kim Smet and their adored children Zoe and Owen; his parents Gregory and Cynthia Dennis, and sister Amber. He is cherished by his beloved grandmother Julia Dennis, aunts and uncles, Graham and Karen Dennis, Angela and Brian Jessop, Phil Dennis and Vincent Chan, and cousins Phil, Andrea, Mark, Andrew, Anna, Leah and Nicole. He is held dear by his father and mother-in-law, Patrick and Lus Smet, and his sisters-in-law and their families, Anna Smet, Glenn Stevens, Nash, and Evie, and Els Smet and Bas de Koning.

Scottie was born in Cornwall Ontario in 1986, but lived most of his childhood years in Orleans, Ontario, where he had many childhood friends and attended Sir Wilfred Laurier High School. He moved with his family to Kelowna, British Columbia in 2003, where he attended Mount Boucherie High School for his Grade 12 year. He then enrolled in a Bachelor’s Degree Program in Engineering at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver. Early in his second year at UBC he met the love of his life, Kim, an international student from Harare, Zimbabwe. They both completed their undergraduate degrees there in 2009. In 2011, they moved together to Boston, Massachusetts, for Kim to attend Harvard University, for her master’s and doctoral studies. During these years Scott worked at MacPhail Associates in Cambridge. Kim and Scott married in 2013, celebrating their wedding with friends and family on the shores of the Zambezi River, within earshot of the mighty Victoria Falls. After Kim’s graduation in 2017, they moved to Ottawa, where Scott joined Paterson Group. They purchased a home in the west end of Ottawa, and welcomed their baby girl Zoe, in 2019. Owen arrived in 2022, on the first day of spring.                     

Scott and Kim were fun, loving parents and built a nurturing home for their children. Scott was a deeply devoted father who found happiness in everyday moments with Zoe and Owen — reading endless stories during breakfast, at bedtime, and many moments in between; spending hours at the park and the farm; enjoying family adventures, museum outings, board games, card games, ski days, and simply making them laugh.

Scott’s two passions, outside of his family, were skiing and Canadian Football. He started to ski with his family in Ottawa at six years old and became an accomplished skier by the time he was 10. He went with his family to many ski resorts all over Eastern Canada and the United States, and even on one occasion in Austria. He proudly kept track of the many places he had skied, once noting that he had visited 22 different ski resorts, including his eastern favourite, Mont Tremblant. When he moved with his family to British Columbia, he added 10 more resorts to his list including Revelstoke, Big White, and Whistler, where he periodically met up with his childhood friends Faron, James and Austin. During their years at UBC, Scott taught Kim to ski, and they spent many days together on the slopes. In recent years, his life-long hunt for new ski terrain was replaced by the joy of teaching first Zoe and now Owen to ski. It gave Scott such joy to see them take to an activity he loved. 

Scottie also loved to watch and play football. He was a Tight End on his high school team in West Kelowna – his parents would go and watch him on Friday nights, playing at the Apple Bowl in Kelowna. Scott loved going to CFL games and was thrilled when his beloved, Ottawa Redblacks won the Grey Cup in 2016.

Scott and Kim shared a love of travel, a passion they were just beginning to pass on to Zoe and Owen. Together they embraced every opportunity to experience new places, whether visiting family across Canada, taking road trips, enjoying unforgettable safaris in Zimbabwe, exploring the rugged beauty of Iceland, or standing together in Zermatt in awe of the Matterhorn. Some of Scottie’s happiest moments were spent travelling with his family — discovering new places, revisiting favourite destinations, and seeing the world anew through Zoe and Owen’s eyes. Whether close to home or halfway across the world, he treasured the time spent together as a family.

Scott will be so greatly missed by his family, friends and colleagues from his workplace. He will be remembered for his kind and caring nature, his generosity, his easy-going sense of humour, and above all, his unwavering devotion to his family. Kim, Zoe, and Owen were the centre of his world, and the love, joy, security and sense of adventure he gave them will remain with them always. May he rest in peace, knowing he was loved and beloved by so many of us. He was truly one of a kind.

A Memorial Service will be held at the Pinecrest Remembrance Chapel, 2500 Baseline Road, Ottawa on Friday, June 5, 2026 at 11 a.m. Reception to follow.