A Tribute to Dr. Anne Scheerer

I write this tribute to one of Creighton’s most remarkable women to urge that SOMEONE here do something to keep her memory alive.

            Dr. Anne Scheerer, retired dean of summer sessions and lifelong learning, died recently. It’s not surprising that her death has received little attention since she had outlived most of her contemporaries and had Alzheimer’s. The shrunken woman trying to remember something someone had just told her was a far cry from the dynamo I met as a young reporter in the early 1970’s.

            Anne taught mathematics before becoming one of Creighton’s first women administrators. As a dean, she took Creighton into the community with seminars and non-credit classes that benefitted many, including women trying to figure out new roles. I think I met her on the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women that worked to open doors to women. Along with people like Eileen Lieben and Mary Higgins (yes, the Mary Higgins who still works in retention), she helped transform the role of women in the University and inspired many outside of Creighton. In 1987, she received the Mary Lucretia Creighton Award.

            What I remember best about Anne, however, was the way she spent her first years of retirement. Instead of relaxing, she joined first the Papal Volunteers then the Peace Corps, serving in various Third World locations. She sent back detailed descriptions of her adventures including bicycling on the Great Wall of China. What a woman!

            Sadly time and illness caught up with Anne but good friends like Sister Mary Alice Haley, retired philosophy professor, patiently took her to community events. I would wish that Anne rest in peace but she would hate that. Instead I’ll hope that her eternity finds her as energetic as she was in life. 

Isn’t it time to permanently memorialize this Creighton pioneer who did so much for so many? How about a Dr. Anne Scheerer Outstanding Retiree Award? 

Kindly,

Dr. Eileen Wirth