Brother Bartholemew Scherba,
OSBM
(1913-2005)
Brother Bart, as he was affectionately known, was born on January 5, 1913 in Buford, Alberta, and raised in Vernon, British Columbia.
He entered the Novitiate of the Order of St. Basil the Great in Mundare, Alberta on February 12, 1930. He made his simple profession of vows on October 14, 1931 and made his Solemn Perpetual Vows in the Basilian Order on August 4, 1935.
He spent his religious life in the Order working as a tailor, cook, carpenter, and assistant at the Basilian Press. In the 1930s the Basilians acquired farmland in Grimsby Ontario. From 1942-1948, the Grimsby Monastery served as the Basilian House of Studies. Subsequently, the community served exclusively as a fruit farm and vineyards. From 1955 until 2004, Brother Bart was entrusted with the task of managing and directeing this farm.
Brother Bart died on November 27, 2005, having lived to the age of 92 years and 75 years of Religious Life. He is predeceased by his parents, his brothers John, Michael, and Peter and by his sisters Katherine Funke and Mary Leeworthy. He will be missed by his remaining sisters Anne Lipton, Pauline Leong, and Bessie Shamanski, by numerous nieces and nephews and extended family members as well as by members of the Order of St. Basil the Great.
Panachyda was celebrated at St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, Grimsby on Tuesday. Funeral Divine Liturgy was celebrated there on November 30, 2005. The funeral oration was preached by Father Mark Zazula, OSBM. Interment took place, on December 2, 2005, in the Basilian section of the Mundare Parish Cemetery, where Brother Bart now rests alongside his fellow Basilians who had gone before him.
Zi svjatymy upokoj, Xryste, dushu raba Tvoho, Monaxa Vartolomeja. Vichnaja pam'jat!