A memorial service celebrating the life of Barbara Schuerman was held this past Wednesday at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Sonoma. Barbara passed away at home surrounded by her loving family the morning of April 30, 2010. She was a beloved mother, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and friend.
Born in Gardena on October 23, 1916, she was a 68 year resident of Sonoma. Barbara made Sonoma her home upon her marriage to her high school sweetheart Whitey Schuerman in 1941. Prior to her marriage Barbara taught Physical Education at Ceres High School. She graduated from Gardena High School in 1934, then received her college degree and teaching credential at Fresno State College in 1938.
After arriving in Sonoma she worked in the clerical field at Mare Island. Barbara decided to take a position teaching at Sonoma Valley High School after her third child started school . She taught Physical Education until her retirement in 1974 and was always pleased to run into her former students. At Sonoma Valley High School she sponsored the SVHS Girls’ Athletic Association, the Soroptimist Summer Girls’ Sports Club and the Girls’ Drill Team. In 2008, Barbara received the David Pfieffer Coaches Award with her induction into the inaugural class of the Dragon Hall of Fame.
Barbara has been a member of the Order of Eastern Star, the International Soroptimists, the Sonoma County Retired Teachers Association, The Society of Mayflower Descendants, Delta Kappa Gamma, the Tokalon Alumnae Association and the Native Daughters of the Golden West. She was an accomplished pianist, played the organ for Faith Lutheran Church in the 1960s and was a supporter of the Sonoma Valley Chorale once being honored along with her husband as Very Special Friends of the Sonoma Valley Chorale.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert and Lulu Wood and her husband of 59 years, Lawrence “Whitey” Schuerman. She was the mother of Fay Schuerman Kerekes of Rancho Cordova, E.H. “Bud” Schuerman and Lora Schuerman Grimes of Sonoma; sister of Janet Wood Lund of Westchester, mother-in-law of Ron Kerekes, Jeanie Schuerman and Dennis Grimes; grandmother of Gregory and Kelly Kerekes, Kathleen Aguas, Willie Schuerman, Jay and Katie Grimes ; great-grandmother of Ruben and Reagan Aguas; and the black backyard cat.
In lieu of flowers , memorial gifts may be made to Hospice By the Bay, 17 East Sir Francis Drake Blvd. Suite 100, Larkspur, CA 94939; FISH, PO Box 507, Sonoma, CA 95476; or the Sonoma Valley Chorale, PO Box 816, Sonoma, CA 95476.
