Mary Caroline was born Oct. 11, 1898, the youngest in the family of 10 children born to William and Mary Elizabeth Payne of Knottsville, Ky. Her parents were descended from the Maryland pioneers who settled Nelson County before coming to Daviess County. Caroline attended Snowball School in Whelan. In 1912, she transferred to the new St. William School in Knottsville taught by the Ursuline Sisters from Mount Saint Joseph. Caroline spent her high school years at Mount Saint Joseph Academy. She responded to a call to religious life by entering the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph where two of her sisters were professed members of the community. Caroline received the Ursuline habit on October 24, 1916, and was given the name Sister Ignatius.
In December that same year, Sister Ignatius was assigned her first mission at St. Francis Xavier School in Raywick, Ky., to teach primary grades and give private music lessons. For 56 years, she taught in the classroom or gave private music lessons (sometimes both) in public and parochial schools in Kentucky, Nebraska, Missouri, and New Mexico. To each of her assignments she brought a generous spirit and a determination to enrich the lives of her students. In Kentucky, she taught at Flaherty, New Haven, Stanley, Central City, Jeffersontown, St. Charles, St. Francis, Holy Cross, Curdsville, Louisville (St. James), Sorgho, Owensboro (St. Joseph and Blessed Mother), Calhoun, Vine Grove, and Paducah (Rosary Chapel). She taught also at Snyder and Wynot, Nebraska; in Affton, Missouri; and San Fidel, New Mexico. Sister Ignatius retired to Mount Saint Joseph in 1972.
In the early morning of Good Friday, April 17, 1987, Sister Ignatius passed from this earthly life. The funeral Mass was concelebrated by Father Anthony Shonis, chaplain, and Msgr. Bernard Powers on Easter Monday morning. Sister Ignatius’ remains are buried in the convent cemetery. Among her survivors was her Ursuline sister, Sister Dorothy. Sister Virginia had preceded her in death.