Sister Audrey Strassel, MSC

Sister Audrey M. Strassel (also known as Sr. Eusebia) was born on March 29, 1927 to Edward C. Strassel and Mary Enola Heitmeier Strassel.  One of six children—three girls and three boys—Sister Audrey grew up in a loving and close knit family in Algiers, Louisiana.

Sister Audrey entered the Marianites of Holy Cross in 1944 and made her final profession in 1950.  She received her BA in Education from Our Lady of Holy Cross College and studied theology at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Sister was an elementary school teacher for 52 years. She taught in Plaquemine and Houma but she spent most of her religious life ministering in schools in New Orleans:  St. Mary of the Angels, St. Cecilia, Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Agnes, and St. Christopher. She spent 25 years on the faculty at her high school alma mater Holy Name of Mary, where she also coached girls’ sports and assisted with liturgical singing.  After retirement she volunteered for 10 years in the school office there. She entered Our Lady of Wisdom Healthcare Center in 2017.  She was a Marianite for 74 years.

 “Aunt” Audrey adored her family and adorned the bulletin board outside her room with countless photographs of its newest members.  She loved and enjoyed the Marianites at Wisdom and the new friends she made there.  Almost every day after supper, she joined Sr. Owen Quintana and several residents who played cards just outside her room.  She didn’t play herself but enjoyed the socializing—and the snacks each person brought to share.  She had a stash in her room for that very purpose which her nieces kept well-stocked.

Sr. Audrey passed away June 30, 2018 at the age of 91 at East Jefferson Hospital in Metairie, Louisiana. 

To celebrate her life, a wake service and Mass of the Resurrection was held on Friday, July 6, 2018 in the chapel at Our Lady of Wisdom Healthcare Center. Sr. Audrey was laid to rest in the Marianite mausoleum in New Orleans, Louisiana.