The Father Factor (2025)

Each Father’s Day, I find myself revisiting the lessons my father, “The Real Scott Westerman,” shared, many of which came from his own dad.

“Scott Westerman, Sr.” was a University of Michigan music major turned missionary, turned pastor. Grandpa served in the Bolivian Andes, built choirs of 200 voices in Dayton, Ohio, and offered free voice lessons to anyone willing to sing. He preached the Golden Rule with clarity and passion.

My father led the Ann Arbor Schools through the turbulent 60s and was a beloved professor and Dean who produced more teachers than any other college of education during his tenure.  He always tried to do what he felt was right, even when it wasn’t universally popular.

If the Westerman dads had a credo, this might be it:

  • Make a difference: Apply your gifts to help others find theirs.
  • Work hard—but seek balance: Passion matters, but not at the cost of your health or presence.
  • Be inclusive: Grandpa integrated his Boy Scout troop long before it was expected. He and Grandma welcomed people of all abilities and backgrounds. My father was the first to recruit people of color into top positions at the Ann Arbor Schools.
  • Stay curious: Dad was a fitness enthusiast into his late 80s, a Rotarian until his 90s, and surrounded himself with a diverse group of people who kept his mind supple and open.
  • Have faith: Belief in something larger than yourself can anchor you through life’s storms.
  • Be well read and educated: In our family, learning was never just for school. It was for living wisely and thinking deeply.
  • Ask for help: Both Dad and Grandpa relied on strong partners, teachers, and mentors. None of us thrive alone. The women in their lives were equal partners in parenting and in life.
  • Choose joy: Grandpa was always delighted to hear from us. Dad inherited that warmth, and I hope I radiate that, too.
  • Be present: Dad sometimes worried he wasn’t, but I never doubted he was there when it counted—listening, advising, showing up.

Some of us didn’t have dads like this. Some had fathers who were absent, broken, or simply unprepared. But many I know who endured unconventional childhoods still found ways to become kind, capable, joyful adults. They sought mentors, reshaped their own paths, and often got help when healing was needed.

As Dad used to remind me, life is a “Do It Yourself Program.” No matter where you started, yours is a body of work, not a single incident. You get to create your legacy.

As we celebrate fathers today, think about the men who shaped you and put the best of who they were into the best you hope to become.