The Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph are a vibrant group of women who continue the call to serve God wherever they see a need. Take a moment to learn more about their lives and how they serve.
Sisters in Ministry Update: In 2009, Sister George Mary Hagan left her ministry at St. Alphonsus and currently serves as a driver for the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph motherhouse. Perhaps working in a distillery for a year and spending 20 years on an Army base at Fort Knox, Ky., isn’t on the typical…
more: Sister George Mary Hagan: “This life is changing all the time”
Update: Sister Joan Walz went to heaven on July 5, 2017. Sister Mary Agnes VonderHaar completed her ministry in McQuady in 2016 and moved to Maple Mount. She went to heaven on May 10, 2023. In the summer of 1965, a chemistry class brought Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph Joan Walz and Mary Agnes…
more: Sisters Joan Walz and Mary Agnes VonderHaar: “They have an incredible spirit of Saint Angela”
Sister Kathleen Kaelin works in a small office in Louisville, Ky., but one of her concerns is whether she has a big enough container. Not a container for holding leftovers, but one to store the emotions filling the hearts and lives of the many people seeking her help in finding God within themselves. “I just…
more: Sister Kathleen Kaelin, OSU: “I feel so grateful for the opportunities I’ve had.”
In June 2010, Sister Amelia Stenger left her position at the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center and served six years as director of development for the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. From 2016-22, she was congregational leader for the Ursuline Sisters. She is now guiding the future of the Ursuline museum, and…
more: Sister Amelia Stenger, OSU: “Sister Amelia is a very humble, talented, and gifted woman.”
In July 2010, Sister Alicia Coomes left her position as director of vocation ministry and served as director of liturgy at St. Francis Borgia, St. Ambrose and St. William Parishes in Union County. In October 2018 she returned to the Motherhouse to serve as director of community life, and later director of pastoral care for…
more: Sister Alicia Coomes, OSU: “Mount Saint Joseph was a place of welcome for me!”
After 50 years as an art professor at Brescia, Sister Mary Diane retired in 2018. She went to heaven on June 28, 2021. Becoming an Ursuline Sister came as no surprise to Sister Mary Diane Taylor and her family. Since she started first grade in the Fredericktown public school system in Washington County, Kentucky, she…
more: Sister Mary Diane Taylor, OSU: “She has a deep respect for her students…”
Sister Claudia is pictured with nephews Joseph, 13, left, and Derrick, 7, and niece Melissa, 16. Joseph is a seventh grader at Burns Middle School, Derrick, a second grader at West Louisville Grade School and Melissa, a sophomore at Owensboro Catholic High School. When Sister Claudia Hayden began her novitiate as an Ursuline Sister…
more: Sister Claudia Hayden, OSU: “She gives quality care to those she touches.”
Sisters in Ministry Update: In 2009, Sister Pat Rhoten left St. John Berchmans School and served as the archives assistant at the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph Motherhouse until 2018. She is now active in the Powerhouse of Prayer. “She had a special place in her heart……for the kids that were poor……and I was…
more: Sister Pat Rhoten, OSU: “Sister Pat is a true Ursuline educator.”
Update: Sister Ruth Gehres completed her ministry in Chile in 2013 and now lives at the Motherhouse, where she serves as a liaison with Casa Ursulina, an English tutor for Vietnamese sisters and offers transportation for the sisters. In March 2006, Sister Ruth Gehres, an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph, spent five weeks at…
more: Sister Ruth Gehres, OSU: “… I expect that she will love Chile and will be loved in turn.”
When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in late August 2005, many of its victims fled to shelters in Shreveport in Caddo Parish (County) in the northern part of Louisiana. Hundreds of the evacuees were young Catholic students who were suddenly not only without a home, but without a school. Sister Carol Shively, an Ursuline Sister…
more: Sister Carol Shively, OSU: “…she can really inspire educators to reach for the stars.”