Alvin Paul Scheerer

BY KATHRYN BASSETT
kbassett@kpcmedia.com
AUBURN — To the very end, Alvin Paul Scheerer of Auburn did not slow down, according to his daughter, Debbie Scheerer.
"He led a very full life and was very loving to people around him. He was a good example to all," she said.
Mr. Scheerer died Monday, Feb. 29, 2016, just days shy of his 100th birthday.
He was born March 9, 1916, in Carson, North Dakota, to John and Lydia (Lutz) Scheerer. One of 11 children, he was the youngest boy and had a younger sister. His parents came to the United States from the Ukraine.
In an interview in anticipation of his 100th birthday, less than three weeks prior to his passing, Mr. Scheerer told how he was born and raised in North Dakota. After graduating from high school, it was expected that he would go into farming.
However, Mr. Scheerer said, he told his father he did not want to be a farmer but wished to pursue a career as a jeweler.
"He said, 'You'll starve doing that.' I said, 'I don't care whether I starve or not, but I will be happy doing it,'" Scheerer recalled.
And happy he was.
Debbie Scheerer said her father worked in a coal mine in South Dakota to raise the money to attend jewelry school. After attending college and learning the jewelry trade, Scheerer received job offers from all over the country. He settled in Logansport and continued to work as a jeweler until he retired at age 69.
But for Mr. Scheerer, retiring did not necessarily mean slowing down. Mr. Scheerer and his wife, Donnabel, moved to Auburn in 1988. Mr. Scheerer was an active member of the Auburn Church of the Nazarene Church and in 2006, at the age of 90, participated in a mission trip to Honduras where he helped on a church-building project.
While in Honduras, Mr. Scheerer gave a sermon, using rocks and gems he had brought along with him, Debbie Scheerer said.
"He used them as part of the sermon on how we are all special and unique," she said.
Debbie Scheerer said her father was a man of deep faith and taught Sunday School for 65 years.
"He had faith in God and was unwavering in that," Debbie Scheerer said. "He led a very Christian life, didn't have an ego and was very down-to-earth."
Mr. Scheerer also enjoyed his ministry work through Gideons International at local jails. He had 34 relatives who were involved as ministers or missionaries. He also served as a mentor in schools, helping children with reading and mathematics.
Reflecting on his faith, Mr. Scheerer said, "I think, all my life, I have been serving the Lord, starting at age 10. That has been utmost in my life. I like to serve the Lord. I gave my heart to the Lord when I was 10 years old. I've been steadfast in serving God."
Debbie Scheerer said she will remember her father as the person who taught her to appreciate nature.
"We'd go for walks, drink from a babbling stream, and he'd show me what berries you could eat," she recalled.
She said her father was excited at the prospect of reaching his 100th birthday.
"He was really looking forward to it. We'd been planning it for months. Family was coming from different parts of the country," she said.
Now, instead of celebrating his birthday, Mr. Scheerer's family will celebrate his life, Debbie Scheerer said.
Mr. Scheerer leaves a wife, Donnabel, six children and their spouses, Dean and Debbie Scheerer of Avon, Debbie Scheerer of Greenwood, Cherry Ambrose of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Daniel and Karen Walker of Auburn, Lucinda and Mitch Miller of Fort Wayne, and Rebecca and Ed Rogers of Auburn; 14 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents; a daughter, Bev O'Neill; a granddaughter, Shawn Wright; five brothers, John, Henry, Theodore, Edward and August Scheerer; and five sisters, Lydia Moos, Louisa Zimbelman, Ida Sauter, Emily Finck and Rose Karow.
Services have taken place at the Auburn Church of the Nazarene, with burial in Woodlawn Cemetery.