Sister Joan Bellew, SSND, died Sunday, Jan. 1 at DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton, Mo. She was 79, and a former teacher, administrator and missionary.

The memorial Mass was celebrated Jan. 27 in the School Sisters of Notre Dame Theresa Center chapel in south St. Louis County. Burial was in the Sancta Maria cemetery in Ripa.

Sister Joan was born in Fort Madison, Iowa. She entered the congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1955. She professed first vows in 1957 and final vows in 1963.

She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1960 from the former Notre Dame College in St. Louis and a master's in education in 1973 from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio.

Sister Joan began her teaching career New Orleans, then held teaching and administrative positions in Illinois, Texas, Arkansas, Ghana and Iowa. She also ministered in Mississippi and was a volunteer at Our Lady of the Lake in Osage Beach, Mo., before moving into the Anna House in 2016.

She is survived by a brother Mike Bellew of Fort Madison, Iowa, sisters Patti Shores in New London, Iowa, Jan Wadle in Milo, Iowa and Ann Burghoffer in Bethlehem, Pa.