Scotty Emanuel aided thousands of addicts

Drug-abuse counselor Edward (Scotty) Emanuel of Minnetonka fought against the prevailing winds that buffeted recovering drug addicts.

Emanuel, an innovative counselor who helped thousands of addicts during his career, died of cancer on Thursday in St. Louis Park. The longtime Minneapolis resident was 73.

"He contributed immeasurably to the field of recovery in the Twin Cities area," said Peter Bell, who co-founded the Minnesota Institute on Black Chemical Abuse, now African-American Family Services of Minneapolis.

"He recognized that getting sober was really much easier than staying sober," Bell said.

Emanuel, himself a former addict, had worked in several drug-abuse treatment programs in Chicago and Iowa before moving to Minneapolis in 1976. At first he was a volunteer at the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center and Eden House, now RS Eden, a treatment, recovery and corrections service organization in St. Paul.

Emanuel found there was not as much post-treatment support for recovering drug abusers as there was for alcohol abusers. He set out to change that, said Dan Cain, president of RS Eden.

"He developed the concept of aftercare," Cain said. "People needed to remain involved after their treatment, so that they could support each other."

Over the years, Emanuel helped thousands of people, Cain said.

"He rallied those who had achieved sobriety to alumni participation," he said, adding that Emanuel was straight- talking and held clients, colleagues and officials accountable. But he also gave them "unconditional love," Cain said.

Because of his upbringing in inner-city Chicago, Emanuel was especially effective in helping black chemical abusers. "He believed that understanding and connecting to a person's culture was imperative to long-term recovery," Cain said.

Years ago, Emanuel helped Mark Lindgren of Minneapolis. "He taught me acceptance and patience," Lindgren said. "He taught me how to live." Nine years ago, Lindgren became a counselor, working with Emanuel. Lindgren said Emanuel "had a style of cutting through the dumb stuff, and the denial, and getting people to get real and honest."

Emanuel also served for years on the State Alcohol and Drug Counselors Advisory Council, defining licensing criteria for working in the field.

In the mid-1950s, he served in the Air Force.

Emanuel never retired. "He loved the work," said his wife, Sondra, of Minnetonka.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Kenneth of Chicago; three stepdaughters, Ieeshia Belfrey and Tearza Belfrey, both of Minneapolis, and Shantil Belfrey of St. Paul; a stepson, Jamal of Rochester; a brother, Lionel; six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Washburn McReavy Funeral Chapel, 5000 W. 50th St. and Hwy. 100, Edina. Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. at the chapel.

Ben Cohen • bcohen@startribune.com