Born at Morganfield, Ky., on Jan. 19, 1905, Ursula Margaret was the daughter of John and Carrie Manning Wathen, one of 11 children. Her formal education began in the Wathen School of Union County and continued at St. Ann School at Morganfield. When Ursula was 19 years old, she entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph. On March 19, 1924, she received the Ursuline habit and was given the name Sister Jean Marie.
Sister Jean Marie prepared for the teaching apostolate. Her first mission was St. Lawrence (Ky.) Elementary School teaching primary grades for one year. She spent the next nine years at Holy Cross, followed by assignments to Raywick (St. Joseph), Flaherty, Louisville (St. Columba), New Haven, and Owensboro (St. Joseph) in Kentucky, and to New Mexico (Blanco and Waterflow). In 1961, she was again missioned to Flaherty for 12 years. This was her last assignment.
At the end of the school year in 1973, Sister Jean Marie returned to Mount Saint Joseph. She was a patient in the infirmary for four years suffering from polyneuritis. She eventually regained her strength but was not able to return to teaching. She retired and remained at Mount Saint Joseph.
During her retirement years, Sister Jean Marie spent much of her time dressing dolls and making dresses for little girls. She enjoyed the company of her three Ursuline sisters who were also living in retirement at the Motherhouse. She developed congestive heart failure and died of pneumonia on December 23, 1989. The following day, the wake service was held using the new rite for funerals for the first time. On December 26, 1989, Father Anthony Shonis, chaplain, celebrated the funeral Mass. Because of the frigid weather and solidly frozen ground, Sister Jean Marie’s remains were not buried in the convent cemetery until a later date. Among her survivors was her Ursuline sister, Sister Aloysius. Sister Mary Antonia and Sister Caroline, also her Ursuline sisters, preceded her in death.