Marion County, Ky., Faithfulness

Strong faith and role models led many to become Ursuline Sisters

LEFT: Sister Francis Xavier Miles teaching the third grade at Calvary School in, Marion County, Ky., in 1965. BELOW: Calvary School and the Ursuline Sisters’ house in 1920.

By Dan Heckel, Mount Saint Joseph Staff

In front of the David R. Hourigan Government Office Building in Lebanon, Ky., stands a monument dedicated to the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. It was placed there in April 2012, celebrating 101 years of the Ursuline Sisters’ presence serving in Marion County.

The Sisters began teaching in three public schools in Marion County in 1911. No one thought it was odd – practically everyone in the county was Catholic. At least one Ursuline Sister served in Marion County every year until 2017, when the late Sister Mary Lois Speaks came home to the Mount. This Ursuline influence is a major reason why at least 90 young women from Marion County eventually became Ursuline Sisters. Two of them became

superiors of the community – Mother Teresita Thompson and Mother Joseph Marian Logsdon. There are seven Sisters remaining who call Marion County home. They say the dedication of Catholic families and the life their Ursuline teachers modeled were the main factors why the central Kentucky community was always a source of vocations. Sister Susan Mary Mudd entered the community in 1954. She said there were a great number of Catholic families near where she grew up in Lebanon. “They were people of great faith and I would say they believed in and relied on God, as they lived and prayed,” she said. “It was believed that priestly and religious vocations were lofty ones. “In the public school system there was a Catholic superintendent, Mr. Hugh C. Spalding. Mr. Spalding knew of the Mount Saint Joseph Ursulines and knew of their dedication to God and education,” Sister Susan The Ursuline Sisters memorial in Marion County, Ky., with the David R. Hourigan Government Office Mary said. “Every summer he would make a trip to the Mount to petition the superior of the Sisters to send Building in the background. more Sisters to the Marion County Public Schools.

Marion County, Ky., women

This 1986 reunion of the 1942 graduating class of St. Charles High School shows that three members of the class became Ursuline Sisters. Seated in the front row left is Sister Dolorita Robinson, and third from the right is Sister Alfreda Malone. Standing at right is Sister Hilda Mudd.

He must have been convincing because many Sisters taught there. My parents certainly loved the Sisters and held them in the highest esteem.”

Sister Marie Bosco Wathen entered the community in 1943, following in the footsteps of her older sister, Sister George Marie. She grew up in the community of St. Joseph, which to avoid confusion with Mount Saint Joseph, was nicknamed “Little St. Joe.”

“We had all Sisters in all the schools,” Sister Marie Bosco said. “Everyone in Marion County was Catholic. There was only one girl in (St. Charles) high school who wasn’t Catholic – and she converted.”

Sister Clarita Browning and her sibling, Sister Marie Goretti, are from Calvary. They had three aunts who were Ursuline Sisters as well – Sisters Mary Lawrence, Mary Otho and Ann Vincentia Abell.

“I think it was a place that was very Catholic. They lived what they believed,” Sister Clarita said. “People saw it and followed.”

While many small communities had Ursuline teachers, Marion County remained fertile ground for vocations because the Sisters were so involved in the lives of their students, said Sister Carol Shively, who grew up attending Holy Name of Mary Church in Calvary. She became an Ursuline in 1978.

“We knew they loved us and they challenged us to do more,” Sister Carol said. “They were very happy publicly with their vocation and they shared that joy with us. They were not shy in inviting us to join their vocation. They led prayers in our schools for priests and the religious life. Although our schools were public, a little prayer did get by.”

Sister Mary Timothy Bland and Sister Clarence Marie Luckett were both born in Greenbrier, just outside of Lebanon. Sister Mary Timothy’s family lived in the back of the grocery that her father ran, just down the street from Calvary School.

“I was probably a nuisance, but I would go up after school to help the Sisters,” Sister Mary Timothy said. “They were always so patient and kind with me.” The Sisters who influenced her the most were Sister Mary Beatrice Donahue, who taught her first and second grade, and Sister Jean Madeline Peake for the fifth and sixth grade.

“As long as I can remember, I wanted to be a Sister. I gravitated toward them,” Sister Mary Timothy said. She entered in 1964.

Although no Ursuline Sisters are serving in Marion County today, the native Sisters believe the Ursuline influence continues there.

“The Catholic traditions of prayer and worship are still alive in my church parish there and people still pray for vocations,” Sister Carol said. “However, many of the people in Marion County don’t really personally know religious anymore.”

“I think the Ursuline influence will remain there among the present generation, but the Ursuline presence is only a shadow at this time,” Sister Susan Mary said. “Hopefully the influence the Sisters imparted is very much a part of those who knew and remember the Sisters, as well as those who come after.”

Sister Clarita said the monument in the center of Lebanon is a daily reminder of the Ursuline influence for the people living there.

“We have friends in Lebanon who call every two weeks to check on us. There is something they continue to hold onto,” Sister Clarita said. “I think that the Ursulines are still alive in Marion County.”n

Marion County