Leonette Marie Strizek was born on April 19, 1936, in Valparaiso, Nebraska, to parents Louis E. and Blanche L. (Hromas) Strizek. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet on Sept. 15, 1960, was received into the novitiate on March 19, 1961, with the name Ann Louis, and made her final profession on Aug. 6, 1968. She received a bachelor’s degree in medical records library science from the College of St. Teresa in Kansas City in 1960 and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1972.

Sister Ann served as medical records librarian for St. Joseph Hospital in Kirkwood from 1963-66 and for St. Joseph Hospital-Center for Life in Augusta, Georgia, from 1966-69.

After receiving her master’s degree, Sister Ann served as a social worker at St. Joseph Hospital in Tucson, Arizona, from 1972-75. For the next two years, she was the assistant administrator at St. Joseph Carondelet Child Center in Chicago. From 1977-84, she was a clinical social worker at Tulsa Catholic Social Service in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Sister Ann moved to the Kansas City area in 1984, where she resided for the next 34 years. She served as a counselor at Catholic Social Services in Olathe, Kansas, until 1987. The following year, she served in clinical pastoral education training at Bethany Medical Center in Kansas City. She then worked in pastoral ministry at St. Joseph Medical Center in Kansas City for five years.

In 1993, Sister Ann began her 25-year ministry work at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Blue Springs. She served as a case manager until 2007 and then continued her service as a chaplain until 2018.

Sister Ann retired to Nazareth Living Center in 2018, where she carried out her mission of prayer and presence.