Barbara A. Scheele

1942 - 2016

Barbara A. Scheele
March 24, 1942
May 22, 2016
Barbara was born on March 24, 1942 in the county of Queens, New York City attended schools there and then graduated from Hunter College also in New York City. She was an elementary school teacher for a few years and then went on to receive her Masters Degree in Library Science at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. She also received a Masters Degree in American Literature from Brooklyn College.
Her career as a college librarian started at Columbia University and later continued as a librarian/ assistant professor at Brooklyn College for thirty years. While at Brooklyn College, her emphasis was on women's studies and she was an advocate for the advancement of young women. Upon retirement, she moved to Canterbury Woods in Pacific Grove, CA.
Barbara dedicated a great deal of her life to the developmentally disabled in New York and continued that mission into her retirement in California. She was an active board member at Gateway Center for several years. In addition to her volunteer work for Gateway she found time to travel and was involved in many spiritual/religious retreats and group gatherings locally, in the bay area, and south to San Luis Obispo. She maintained connections with Sisters of Mercy in New York and in Burlingame, California.
Barbara's foreign travel included trips to France, Italy, United Kingdom, Russia, China, Japan, and Morocco.
She also spent much time laughing and enjoying the company of many friends, going to good movies and concerts, and savoring the delights of good restaurants. Reading good books in her down time was also a regular pursuit.
Barbara will be missed for her openness and kindness toward others, her friendly, fun-loving outlook on life and her lovely (sometimes interesting) sense of humor.
Her family and close friends are grateful for the compassionate and very tender care given to her by Central Coast Senior Services, Canterbury Woods Medical Unit staff, and in her last days Hospice of the Central Coast.
Barbara was pre-deceased by her father Matthew F.J. Scheele and her mother Gertrude L. Scheele of Bellerose, New York, and her brother Matthew F.P. Scheele of Nassau County, New York. She is survived by her sister Cathleen M. Einstein and her brother-in-law Timothy Einstein both in Delaware.
A service will be held for her at the Canterbury Woods Chapel Wednesday June 8 at 2 pm followed by a celebration of her life at 3 pm in the Medical Unit Day Room at Canterbury Woods.


View the online memorial for Barbara A. Scheele