Several days ago, a good friend of Government Island, Rex
Scouten, passed away. Rex had a long and
distinguished career as a secret service agent in the Truman
administration. Later he was Chief Usher
of the White House and finished his career as White House Curator. He served ten presidents. In 1992, when Jane Conner discovered that
Government Island would be divided into housing lots, she went Mr. Scouten at
the White House to ask for assistance.
He said he would do everything possible to help preserve the historical
isle. After several visits to the island,
he had the Stafford Board of Supervisors and County Administrator for lunch at
the White House. In 1998, the
supervisors purchased the isle. Rex
headed the Government Island Committee which determined how to make the island a
low impact park to share with the nation.
Rex and his wife returned to Stafford to participate in the opening of
Government Island Park in 2010. He spoke
at Aquia Church for the park’s dedication and was pleased that Stafford saw fit
to preserve this nationally significant historic site.
This is a picture of Rex going out to the island years ago before the current bridges were built. Sometimes he even had to go over by balancing on a log.
