Sister Alicia Alvarado, OP, died Sept. 17 in Richfield, Ohio, at the age of 73. A funeral Mass was celebrated Sept. 22 at Our Lady of the Elms Chapel in Akron, Ohio.

Sister Alicia was born in Puerto Rico to Felipe and Rosa Alvarado. When she was 5 years old, she and her family moved to Cleveland. She entered the Sisters of St. Dominic of Akron, now Dominican Sisters of Peace, from San Juan Bautista Parish in Cleveland in 1979.

Sister Alicia made her first profession on June 13, 1982, and was in her 40th year of profession. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Cleveland State University in 1973, a master’s in sociology from Case Western Reserve University in 1976, and a bachelor’s degree in communications from Kent State University in 1991.

Sister Alicia was involved in Hispanic ministry most of her religious life and before. In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, she was director of the Catholic Hispanic Center in 1992. From 1993-97, she also was director of the Los Caminantes project. She also served in Hispanic ministry in the Dioceses of Cleveland and Toledo, both in Ohio. In 2005, she was elected to a four-year term as Fourth Councilor for her religious congregation.

Sister Alicia is survived by her sisters, Carmen, Lucia Marie and Lourdes Dorsey, and brothers Philip, George and Alberto. Her body was donated to science.