Before Google put instant information at everyone's fingertips, reference librarians like Jean Dressel were human search engines, digging up nuggets of knowledge for library patrons.

Dressel, who worked at the Golden Valley Library for more than 20 years, had a palette of interests as diverse as the many books that lined the library's shelves. The Brainerd resident died of natural causes May 6 at age 94.

After working as a reference librarian in the Twin Cities, she lived an active life in Brainerd, filling her days with gardening, breakfasts with friends from the library in the Twin Cities, and artwork. Her family said she had an enthusiasm and curiosity for life.

She was born in 1922 in Minneapolis and attended the University of Minnesota — not all that common for women back then, said her daughter, Lynn Hanske, 62, who lives in Brainerd. She was a botany major and graduated in 1944. She met her husband, Bill, at a Minneapolis Hiking Club meeting. They married in 1948, just months after that meeting.

The Dressels lived in Minnetonka, where they raised their two children. They'd travel in a convertible, taking road trips and plane trips to see the country. Her son, Jon Dressel, 56, who lives in Salida, Calif., estimates they saw 30 or 35 states together.

Bill was an attorney in Minneapolis and his wife stayed at home, but she wanted to do something else, her daughter said. So Dressel pursued her master's degree in library science at the University of Minnesota, and graduated in 1970.

She started working at the Golden Valley Library around that time, where she met fellow librarians who became a tight-knit group and had get-togethers for decades after. Dressel was a reference librarian there, and with the absence of online resources to pull up information, she loved the puzzle that came with reference information, Hanske said.

"She was always ready and willing and able to tackle any challenge that anyone would come up with," Hanske said.

Her librarian job was a combination of her best characteristics, including her helpfulness and her research abilities, Jon Dressel said.

Then Bill died in 1981. Dressel was independent before marriage and retained that when she became a widow, her son said.

"As she aged, it would be like, 'Why don't you let me do that for you, Mom?' " he said. "It'd almost be a fight."

She retired from the Golden Valley Library in the 1990s and moved to Brainerd to be closer to her daughter and her grandchildren. In Brainerd, her love of books continued when she volunteered to listen to kids read at a school. She was "a major hockey grandma and baseball grandma," Hanske said.

Even into her 80s, she'd make a two-hour drive each way to the Twin Cities every month to connect with her library friends for breakfast, said Dressel's friend Mary Bowman.

Dressel's use of technology didn't stop with Facebook. She was a watercolor artist, and she used her computer to print off paintings, which she turned into specialized cards for such holidays as Christmas, Halloween and Easter, Hanske said. Bowman said several of her friends kept her cards all these years — and the count could be enough to fill a couple of shoe boxes.

"She was living like life was going to go on forever," said Bowman, who lives in Minnetonka and worked with Dressel at the library.

She embraced life throughout. In her 90s, she still insisted on making lunch for her friends instead of going out to eat, Bowman said. She built a bird sanctuary near her townhouse and loved gardening.

"She was always open to new things," Hanske said. "She was never one of these people who closed her mind to anything."

In addition to her son and daughter, survivors include six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. A private service will be held.