Brown University student loved math
Scott Zager loved studying mathematics.
By fifth grade, his parents said, he was doing calculus and after eighth grade he earned a spot at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, a year earlier than most students.
"Scott had a thirst for knowledge like I have never seen before," said Lynn Pittner, his former math teacher at Haines Middle School in St. Charles. "He always wanted to learn more."
She fondly remembers the math fair he participated in, along with his classmates. While many of the other students created user-friendly Web sites, the young Mr. Zager taught himself to use JavaScript, a sophisticated programming language typically used by college students and professional software experts, to design his intricate site.
"He was just an amazing student, who would have gone on to do so much," Pittner said. "He was the kind of student who would have found a cure for cancer."
Only 19, Mr. Zager died Monday after a six-month battle with testicular cancer. The former St. Charles resident had lived in Naperville the last two years.
At the time of his passing, Mr. Zager was a sophomore math major at Brown University in Providence, R.I., where he had taken graduate level math courses as a freshman.
"It was a traditional Ivy League setting, with an open curriculum, which Scott liked," said his father.
Mr. Zager came by his love of learning naturally as both his parents are educators. His father is the assistant superintendent for finance at Naperville Unit District 203, while his mother, Gina, works in early childhood education for West Aurora Unit District 129.
His parents said that as the youngest of their three sons, it was hard for them to send Scott off to the Illinois Math and Science Academy's residential campus for high school.
As a family, they loved to camp up in northern Wisconsin, where Mr. Zager enjoyed canoeing, kayaking and wind surfing.
"But he wanted to immerse himself in learning," his father said, adding that his son was inspired by his classmates. "Once he got to IMSA, he said he was surrounded by people who were smarter than he was."
At IMSA, Mr. Zager competed on the soccer team and swam backstroke on the swim team. He also met his girlfriend there, Emilie Yeh of Mundelein, who remained by his side through his illness.
In describing Mr. Zager, she said she would "remember an amazing person with the utmost curiosity, who always wanted to learn something new and teach it to someone who would listen."
Besides his parents, Mr. Zager is survived by his brothers, Nick and Danny, as well as his paternal grandparents, Carl and Erma Zager of Mount Carroll, Ill., and his maternal grandmother, Kathryn Peot of Oak Brook. He was preceded in death by his maternal grandfather, Robert Peot.
A funeral Mass will take place at 10 a.m. today at St. Raphael Catholic Church, 1215 Modaff Road in Naperville.