The daughter of James and Frances Mahoney, Genevieve was born in New Haven, Ky., on May 25, 1905. At the age of 16 she entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph and on March 20, 1922, she received the Ursuline habit following her postulancy. Genevieve was given the name Sister Florentia.
Prepared for the teaching apostolate, Sister Florentia’s first assignment was to St. Edward School in Jeffersontown, Ky. After a year there she was assigned to St. Martin School in Rome, Ky., and then on to numerous other schools ‑‑ parochial and public — within Kentucky. During her years of teaching, Sister Florentia spent 30 years in public schools and 22 years in parochial schools also serving as principal during many of these years. When at St. Charles School in Lebanon she served as librarian, and her final assignment took her to Mount Saint Joseph Academy as assistant librarian.
Sister Florentia retired in 1975 and spent her last years at Mount Saint Joseph. Several years later she suffered a heart attack and was thought to be improving. When she didn’t appear for morning Mass on August 22, 1979, her niece, Sister Pauletta McCarty, went to her room to see if Sister Florentia wanted to receive Holy Communion. Sister Pauletta saw that Sister Florentia was already “in communion with our Divine Physician.” Three days later her funeral Mass was celebrated by Father Bernard Barnes, chaplain, who also gave the homily. Concelebrating with him were Msgr. Bernard Powers and Father Anthony Shonis. Sister Florentia was then buried in the convent cemetery.