Born in Mayfield, Ky., on Dec. 20, 1893, Mary Agnes was the daughter of John and Mary Haggerty Sweeney. She spent time at Mount Saint Joseph Academy as a student between the years 1903 and 1912. At the age of 18, she entered the novitiate on Nov. 17, 1912, and four days later received the Ursuline habit. Mary Agnes was given the name Sister Agnita.
Sister Agnita began her life as an Ursuline teacher in Cloverport, Ky., in 1916. She remained there until she studied at Sisters College, Washington, D.C., during the academic year of 1924-25. She returned to the Mount as principal of the Academy where she remained until 1935. During that time, she spent one semester on leave studying at The Catholic University of America. She spent summers at Creighton, Notre Dame, and The Catholic University. She received both her bachelor and master of arts degrees in English Literature from The Catholic University of America. She taught at St. Bernard Academy (Nebraska City, Neb.), and in Kentucky at St. Catherine High School, St. Francis High School and Flaherty High School during the years 1935-48. Sister Agnita was appointed dean of Mount Saint Joseph Junior College in 1948. She brought scholarship and conviction of purpose as the administrative head and first dean of Brescia College in “the soul‑harrowing period” of transplanting the Junior College to Owensboro. She is named among the Ursuline women whose scholarship and dedication to higher education gave birth to Brescia College.
As she was dying of cancer, Sister Agnita’s only hope was that she could continue working until the end. Although the physicians who attended her during the last few months said it was almost physically impossible, she continued her work at Brescia to within a month of her death on April 26, 1955. Classes at Brescia College were dismissed so the students could attend the funeral Mass celebrated at Mount Saint Joseph by Msgr. Gilbert Henninger, chaplain. Sister Agnita’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.