Sr. Elizabeth Zeestraten, IHM, died Dec. 23 at the IHM Health Care Center in Monroe. She would have turned 103 on Dec. 31 and had spent 79 years in professed religious life.

She was one of 12 children of Cornelius and Cornelia (Stassan) Zeestraten, born Dec. 31, 1908, in Strausburg, N.D., and given the name Elizabeth. She became a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Monroe in 1932, taking the religious name of Sister Alexia.

Sr. Zeestraten taught at St. Michael, Flint and Our Lady of Help and All Saints, Detroit. In 1938 she began her ministry to the IHM community in domestic services. She worked in the diet kitchen at the Motherhouse for 12 years, followed by a year in the kitchen at the Hall of the Divine Child in Monroe. From 1951 to 1965 she directed operations at the community laundry in the powerhouse on the Monroe campus. She cooked at the convent in Christ the King Parish, Detroit, for the next 13 years.

Sr. Zeestraten returned to the Motherhouse in Monroe in 1978 and subsequently was buyer for the kitchen until 1983 and also worked in the Creativity Shoppe from 1978-1989, when she formally retired. She entered the Health Care Center in 2000 where she resided until her death.

She is survived by nieces and nephews. Her funeral Mass was Dec. 28 at the IHM Motherhouse.

Memorials to the IHM Retirement Fund, 610 W. Elm Ave., Monroe, MI 48162-7909.