‘Gentle giant’: Father remembers son, a Clearwater police officer who died in crash

It was around 3 a.m. on Saturday and Gregory Hollingsworth couldn’t get to sleep.

U.S. 81 sits right in front of his house in Peck, and he heard emergency vehicles respond to a crash about a quarter mile from his home.

“I saw several ambulances reporting to the scene,” Hollingsworth said. “In my mind, as I watched all these people respond, I said, ‘It’s unfortunate. Someone may be dead down there.’ “

Maybe 10 minutes later, Clearwater Police Chief Kirk Ives rang Hollingsworth’s phone. “Immediately when I saw his name on my phone, I knew that it was Scott.”

Hollingsworth’s son, Scott Hollingsworth, 26, was a Clearwater police officer. He had been headed home to Wellington after work when his vehicle was hit at the intersection by a pickup truck that did not yield at a stop sign.

Scott died at the scene, and the three passengers in the pickup truck were taken to the hospital with injuries.

Officer Hollingsworth had just reached his one-year anniversary with Clearwater police on March 6.

‘Keeping the town safe’

Scott and his wife, Hadley, moved to Kansas from Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2022. Scott’s parents were already living in Peck and helped their son establish a new life.

“The price of real estate is crazy out there,” Gregory Hollingsworth said. “So they called and said ‘Hey Dad, can we come to Kansas?’ and I said ‘Yeah, yeah, find a job, come to Kansas.’”

The younger Hollingsworth initially worked in retail, but that was not what he wanted to do full time. Gregory Hollingsworth said the family had friends who were in law enforcement and became good friends with Ives.

Hollingsworth said his son expressed an interest in becoming a police officer.

“He came to us and said ‘Hey, I just really feel like this is something that I should do,’ “ Hollingsworth said. “It was a way that he felt that he could give back to a community.”

After several conversations with Ives, who had an open officer position, Scott quickly became a part of the Clearwater community, his father said.

“He absolutely loved it [the job], and he was still getting used to the job obviously,” Gregory Hollingsworth said. “But he just loved being able to interact with people. He felt that was what he really was called to do.”

The community took to Facebook to show their support after Scott’s passing.

“Scott was such a great guy,” one person said on Facebook. “He brought so much joy and laughter to our community. Rest easy.”

Another person added: “My son enjoyed Officer Hollingsworth stopping by the park to play basketball with the kids.”

‘A gentle giant’

Scott Hollingsworth stood 6 feet, 9 inches tall, but he didn’t seem intimidating — except when he was playing football and basketball, his father said.

“With Scott, you know, when he would give you a hug, he would just envelop your whole body,” Gregory Hollingsworth said. “There’s just never a time that you felt uncomfortable around him. He was a gentle giant.”

He grew up in Temecula, California, where he played football and basketball at Temecula Valley High School. In his freshmen year of college, he played basketball at Hartnell College in Salinas, California.

He made it as a walk-on player at Utah Valley University, where he met his wife.

They had been married nearly five years and had a daughter named Claire who turned 2 in December. The family recently bought a house and were remodeling it, Gregory Hollingsworth said.

Part of the community

Gregory Hollingsworth said he and his son spent a lot of time together on the golf course, but he reflected back on a trip where the two went on a week-long backpacking trip to Yosemite National Park.

“He was just such a great kid to be around,” Hollingsworth said.

The Hollingsworth family expressed their gratitude for the outpouring of love and support they have received from the Clearwater community.

“That’s been a blessing, a silver lining, and all of this to be able to recognize that other people love our son,” Gregory said. “He definitely ingrained himself into the community of Clearwater.”

A funeral service for Scott Hollingsworth will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 23 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1408 S. Rock Road in Derby, an online obituary said.

A GoFundMe has been created to help pay for funeral arrangements and financial support for Hadley and Claire.

Hollingsworth is survived by his wife, Hadley (Madsen) Hollingsworth; daughter, Claire Hollingsworth; parents, Gregory and Nataly Hollingsworth; sisters, Jordan and Sydney Hollingsworth.

Lt. Mike Friday, with the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, said Tuesday that they plan to meet with the Sumner County District Attorney’s Office later this week. He expects charges to be filed in the case next week.

Friday would not say what he expects the charges to be.

Friday had previously told The Eagle that the other driver was a 19-year-old man believed to be from Mulvane.