The daughter of James and Cecilia Elmore Newton, Regina was born May 2, 1901, in Holy Cross, Ky. Her mother died following the birth of a baby brother. A maternal aunt assisted the father in caring for the children. Her formal education began at a Marion County Public School with lay teachers. When the Ursuline Sisters opened Holy Cross School in 1914, Regina was among their first pupils. On July 15, 1917, she entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph and on November 28 the same year, she received the Ursuline habit. Regina was given the name Sister Jamesetta.
Prepared for the teaching apostolate, Sister Jamesetta was sent with other Sisters to open St. Leo School in Snyder, Neb., in September 1918. She taught primary grades there for three years, then was assigned to St. Bernard Academy in Nebraska City where she taught for four years. During the summers, she attended Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. In 1923, Sister was reassigned to Kentucky: St. Joseph School in Central City, St. Paul School and St. Columba in Louisville, St. Charles in Lebanon and at St. Martin of Tours in Flaherty, where she served as teacher and principal.
On February 13, 1933, while at Flaherty, Sister Jamesetta underwent surgery for intestinal cancer at St. Joseph Infirmary in Louisville. After a recuperation period at Mount Saint Joseph, she returned to Flaherty. Sister Jamesetta began the next school year but became ill in November, and returned to St. Joseph Infirmary for treatment. She was at Flaherty again for Christmas, but left there in January 1934, and came to Mount Saint Joseph Infirmary. After months of intense suffering, Sister Jamesetta died on October 24, 1934. Father James L. Whelan, chaplain, celebrated the funeral Mass and gave the homily. Father Joseph Gettelfinger, pastor at St. Martin Church in Flaherty, gave the final absolution. Sister Jamesetta’s remains are laid to rest in the convent cemetery.