Born July 17, 1889, in Hodgenville, Ky., Mae was the daughter of James and Matilda Morley Hayden. She entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph when she was 25 years of age. She received the Ursuline habit on December 30, 1914, and was given the name Sister Loyola.
Sister Loyola, prepared for the teaching apostolate, was first assigned to St. Peter School in Waverly, Ky., where she taught for two years. Other grade school assignments in Kentucky took her to Louisville (St. James), St. Mary, Philpot, Fairfield, and Central City. In 1930, Sister Loyola taught at Mount Saint Joseph Academy for two years; then studied at Nazareth College in Louisville for two years. Sister then taught high school English and a few other subjects at the various high schools staffed by the Ursuline Sisters: Mount Saint Joseph Academy (13 years), Lebanon, Ky., (St. Charles), Nebraska City, Neb., (St. Bernard Academy), St. Francis, Clementsville, Knottsville, Hardinsburg, and New Haven, Ky. Sister retired from teaching in 1960 and served as assistant librarian at Mount Saint Joseph Academy for three years.
In December 1963, Sister Loyola retired and spent the remainder of her life at Mount Saint Joseph. She became a bedfast patient in the infirmary, very irrational and disruptive. Several months of treatment at Our Lady of Peace Hospital in Louisville gave her great relief. She returned to the Motherhouse infirmary, again lost rationality and became very emaciated. Death came peacefully to her on December 26, 1964, just four days short of her 50th anniversary as an Ursuline Sister. On December 28, 1964, Msgr. Albert Thompson, chaplain, celebrated the funeral Mass. Sister Loyola’s remains rest in the convent cemetery.