Scott Pasour
Scott Pasour, a lay minister at Venture Church and owner of Pasour Auto Repair, was riding down from the peak of Mount Mitchell with two other motorcyclists when they stopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the entrance of the park to put on rain gear, according to friends and park officials. The other men reported that they did not see any lightning or hear any thunder in the area until witnessing a bolt come down and strike the helmet Pasour was wearing.
A medical professional on the scene worked to revive Pasour for about 45 minutes and he was flown by helicopter to Mission Hospital in Asheville, where he was pronounced dead, according to friends. The incident occurred around 1 p.m., according to park officials.
"Scott Pasour loved Christ. He loved the church. He loved his family and he loved people," said Austin Rammell, pastor of Venture Church in Dallas. "I just don't know of any other way to describe him."
The two other men standing feet away were unscathed. They told others that the outside of Pasour's helmet looked fine, but that the inside had a hole. The lightning left a mark in the pavement where Pasour was standing, according to the other motorcyclists.
Roger Self, of Dallas, said he has known Pasour for decades through the church they both attend and the auto repair business Pasour opened in Dallas more than 30 years ago.
He was active in community affairs in Dallas, but also was well known for a Tuesday night Bible study he would hold at his shop that attracted other motorcyclists.
"He brought a lot of guys into church that probably wouldn't come into a church building," Self said. "Scott was a biker. He would meet bikers all over the county and all over the country and he'd share his faith. He just had a real connection with that community."
Rammell and Self traveled to Asheville to meet with Pasour's wife, Tammy, and others. He had two children, son Wess Pasour, and daughter, Kelly Davis.
Pasour had been injured in other accidents where he probably should have died, Rammell said. When something like this happens, people make a mistake of trying to answer all the questions too quick as to why it happened.
"The one conservation we get to have as believers is that we know that our hearts and our heads don't connect on things like this," Rammell said. "Our hearts grieve, but in our heads, we know the truth so we trust God as those who have hope."
Pasour was one of the leaders who decided that Venture Church would change from a traditional Baptist church to a more contemporary congregation. Rammell came to the church in October 2002, and he said Pasour was one of those who were committed from the start.
Pasour wasn't perfect. He had his own troubles. But he used those struggles to teach others and counsel other Christians when their lives seemed to be coming apart at the seams.
"For Scott, Christianity wasn't an excuse to sin," Rammell said. "It was, we're jacked up and we need Jesus."
And while family and friends grieve their loss of Pasour's love and friendship, they need to remember their friend was a man of faith, Rammell said.
"Scott was a child of God and God calls his children home," Rammell said. "Beyond that, Scripture doesn't give us a place to explain it."
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