She had travelled the world, taught scores of nurses and helped lead a major Twin Cities nonprofit, but Barbara Scherek wanted to learn more.
So at age 78, she began studies to become a certified holistic health coach, graduating the following year. It was part of a lifelong quest to know herself and learn how to help others.
"She was always ravenous for the next thing to learn and always had that wide-eyed childlike wonder when she discovered something new," said Dr. Karen Lawson of the Center for Spirituality & Healing at the University of Minnesota.
Scherek died Oct. 16 at age 85.
"I just knew growing up that she was a hero of mine,'' said her daughter, Kathleen Scherek. "She was helping people and seemed to be in a good place. I came later to know that she was constantly working on her self and on a constant journey."
Scherek grew up in New Prague and finished a nursing degree in 1954, starting a long career that included teaching other nurses in professional settings while also volunteering for the St. Paul Chapter of the American Red Cross.
She eventually joined the organization's board of directors, held a seat for 17 years, and in 1977 was elected as the organization's first female board chair.
"She was kind, gentle, soft-spoken and low-key, but underneath that there was a will of iron," said Dave Therkelsen, who was the chapter's executive director at one time. "She had a very clear idea of where she felt the organization or a particular issue should go."
Scherek was transformative leader, Therkelsen said, and her talents were noticed by the national leadership. In 1989, she was appointed the chief nurse of the American Red Cross in Europe, responsible for setting up medical facilities in Germany during the first Gulf War.
"She was the civilian level of a three-star general, but she would never admit that," said Kathleen Scherek. "She was very humble, she didn't talk about these things."
Even as she pursued her professional and volunteer work, she travelled extensively with her husband, Dr. Jerome Scherek, who died in 1997, to learn about different cultures. They also attended seminars and workshops to learn more about spirituality, health and healing.
Later, Scherek hosted seminars at her historic home in Annandale, a former lodge, where she welcomed physicians, holistic and spiritual healers, tribal officials and seekers of all kinds.
"What was fascinating to me was how eclectic the group was," said Mary Ellen Kinney, a nurse, friend and frequent guest. "One of the pieces that I so appreciated about her was about how accepting she was in life."
After she was diagnosed with cancer, Scherek began studying quantum physics to learn more about energy. She also learned how to embrace the pain that came with the illness.
"She believed pain had purpose and she wanted to be present to whatever that was," said Kathleen Scherek.
But her life was also about helping people help themselves, her daughter said.
"It was really about cultivating independence and confidence with yourself, your connection with your own intuition," she said.
In addition to her first husband, Scherek was preceded in death by her second husband, William Wegleitner, and daughter Barbara.
She is survived by daughters Kathleen Scherek, Teresa Khan MacKay and Mary Jo Hennessey, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Services have been held.
