Mary Lelia was born to Peter and Mary Snipes Kohl of Henderson, Kentucky, on December 4, 1872. Following her early education, Lelia came to Mount Saint Joseph Academy in 1888, graduating in the spring of 1893. Her parents were not Catholic, so Mary Lelia had never been baptized. She was aware of their strong prejudice against Catholicism. On December 28, 1893, Mary Lelia, at the age of 21, was baptized by Father William McCarthy at Mount Saint Joseph. Father Patrick Kelleher stood as sponsor. Father Kelleher celebrated the Mass and Mary Lelia received her First Holy Communion. Father McCarthy preached the sermon.
On the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1895, Mary Lelia entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph. She, and the four other young women who entered with her, were the original five to receive the Ursuline habit at Mount Saint Joseph on June 12, 1896. Mary Lelia became Sister Angela. Sister Angela was disowned by her family because of her conversion to Catholicism and her subsequent choice to enter the convent. She was never again welcome in their home.
An efficient teacher, Sister Angela’s active apostolate was in the field of music and her labors were centered at Mount Saint Joseph Academy. At the first canonical election of Community officers in 1913, Sister Angela was elected depositary (treasurer) and held this position for nine years having been re-elected twice. In 1922, she was elected as mother assistant to Mother Teresita Thompson and served in this capacity for six years. During all these years, as she filled the various Community offices, Sister Angela never gave up her work in the music department. It was admirable to see how well she blended these two apparently conflicting duties. Sometime during these years, a man came to Mount Saint Joseph and asked for Sister Angela. He was her brother, the first and only member of the family to ever visit her.
When Sister Angela’s health began to fail in 1935, she was given charge of St. Mary Home in Owensboro. She ended her active ministry in 1941 and returned to Mount Saint Joseph. She spent the last years of her life a victim of rheumatoid arthritis. Eventually, she was admitted to Mercy Hospital in Morganfield where she died on May 9, 1950. Father Gilbert Henninger, chaplain, celebrated the funeral Mass and gave the sermon. Sister Angela’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery. A sister‑in‑law was present for the funeral.