Gayle Lierheimer
This award is presented to someone who has given to individuals and families in need of support and care through volunteering time and effort. It also calls for someone who has applied nursing knowledge, compassion and caring on an on-going basis. This year, the school honored Gayle Lierheimer, BSN ‘01.
Those who have encountered a life-threatening illness often mark time in a new way - before and after the crisis situation. Gayle Lierheimer, BSN '01, might mark her life in such a way, but perhaps in three sections: before cancer, after cancer and after cancer recurrence.
Before cancer, Lierheimer was a nurse, wife, mother, sister, a friend to many, and an oasis to students from other lands. Her after-cancer life started in 1990 when she became the woman in her family's third generation to develop breast cancer. In 2002, the after-cancer-recurrence phase of her life began. Her cancer returned with a vengeance. Some four treatment cycles later, Gayle retired from the work she loved to focus on healing and giving to others in new ways. She has bolstered the parish nurse program in her home community and sought out ways to serve her fellow breast cancer survivors, cancer survivors, caregivers and vulnerable people in general.
"Gayle continues to teach all of us about the importance of the spiritual component of our existence," said Peg Heckathorn, retired lymphedema research project manager at the school. "She operates from a holistic, mind-body perspective and framework. She models hope, compassion and action as she continues to keep herself informed of the latest cancer treatments available."
In 2005 even with her own health issues, Lierheimer helped establish the parish nurse program in her home town of Mexico, Mo. After determining the needs within her church's congregation and adding in her passion to help those with inadequate health-care insurance, she now visits a number of church members and friends throughout the community. She monitors blood pressure, serves as an advocate and referral agent, serves as an integrator of faith and makes in-home visits. She is also assisting in initiating a formal parish nurse program that will reach community wide, involving all churches and health-care providers in her area.
"Gayle is a humble, deeply respected person of faith and integrity who serves out of her love for nursing," said Rev. Dale Stone, pastor of the Mexico United Methodist Church. "Due to her own health concerns, and her humble, serving spirit in its midst, her courage inspires many."
Additionally, Lierheimer is actively seeking to bring a therapeutic program incorporating horse therapy for oncology patients and caregivers to central Missouri. "Gayle's creativity and energy seem to know no bounds," said Jane Armer, professor and researcher at the school. "This is due to the passion she has for nursing and serving her fellow man. Recognizing all that she has given to others in more than 35 years of nursing, it is in the second chapter of her life where perhaps we see most clearly the depth of Gayle's passion to serve her Lord and her fellow man."
Lierheimer is an outstanding role model for nurses and students in the compassion, selflessness and holistic nursing skills she brings to nursing and caring for people.
Lierheimer and her husband, Richard, have been married 36 years this May and have a rich background in farming. Richard graduated from MU's College of Agriculture in '65, their daughter Kara in '95, and their son Ernie in '99. Kara went back to college and received her BSN in 2004 from the School. Both their children are married, and they are expecting their first grandchild in June.