Born Jan. 19, 1898, in Anthoston, Ky., Lillian was the daughter of John and Caroline Manning Wathen. She had eight sisters and two brothers. Lillian was 5 years old when she began her formal education at the Wathen School, a one‑room school with all eight grades and one teacher. She came to Mount Saint Joseph for high school. She entered the novitiate, and on October 24, 1916, received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Caroline.
Sister Caroline was sent to Rome, Ky., in 1917, to assist with the housework and to study in preparation for certification in public schools. The next year, she was assigned to teach in Nebraska until 1936 at Sacred Heart and St. James in Wynot, and in St. Bernard Academy, Nebraska City. While teaching at St. Bernard Academy, Sister Caroline served as the leader of their Girl Scout Troop. Later assignments took her to schools in Kentucky: Fredericktown (she taught there from 1936-1951), St. James in Louisville from 1951-1958, Holy Cross, Vine Grove, Sorgho, Flaherty, and for her last six years of classroom teaching, 1966-1972, at St. Ignatius in Louisville.
Due to ill health, Sister Caroline returned to Mount Saint Joseph in 1972 and spent much time praying, visiting the sick Sisters, and oil painting. She spent several years as a patient in the infirmary where she died peacefully on June 15, 1988. Father Anthony Shonis, chaplain, celebrated her funeral Mass three days later. Sister Caroline’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery. Among her survivors were her two Ursuline sisters, Sister Jean Marie and Sister Aloysius. Her other Ursuline sister, Sister Mary Antonia, preceded her in death.