Josephine Ann (Joan) was born on October 10, 1929, in New Haven, Ky. Less than a month later, she was baptized on November 2, 1929, at Holy Name Church in Louisville, Ky. When she was in 3rd grade on May 19,1938, she was confirmed.
She was the second of six children born to John Robert and Lillian Catherine Mahoney. Her brothers and sisters included Marvin, William Donald, Joseph Allen, Rebecca and Elizabeth. Her father’s job with the railroad brought the family to Louisville, but both her parents were from rural Nelson County, Ky.
Joan attended Holy Name Elementary School in Louisville and received her high school education at Presentation Academy in Louisville.
Joan felt a calling to religious life, but was encouraged by her pastor, Monsignor Francis J. Timoney to go to work for at least a year before making a decision. After meeting two of her dad’s cousins, Ursuline Sisters Rose Frances and Florentia Mahoney, she somehow knew Mount Saint Joseph was where she should go.
She entered as a postulant on February 2, 1950, and later when she became a novice, she was given the name Sister Amanda Rose after her grandmother.
She graduated from Brescia College in 1964 with a B. A. in English and a minor in Education.
Sister Amanda Rose taught in Kentucky at Sts. Joseph and Paul School and Blessed Mother School in Owensboro, at St. Anthony School in Peonia and Holy Trinity School in Fredericktown. She also taught at St. Teresa School in Glennonville, Mo.
She ministered to retired Sisters in Louisville at St. Ignatius Retirement Center, and St. Boniface Retirement Center. She was a health care aide to the Sisters at the Motherhouse. Later she served the elderly in the Highland Outreach Program in Louisville. After that she retired and came to the Mount and continued ministering to the sisters in the Powerhouse of Prayer.
Sister Amanda Rose, 95, died February 15, 2025, at Mount Saint Joseph, in her 75th year of religious life. The funeral Mass was at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, February 25th, in the Motherhouse Chapel, with Father Ray Goetz, chaplain, presiding. Burial was in the convent cemetery.