Born June 10, 1910, to John and Coletta Bowling Yates in Waverly, Ky., Lillian was one of the six Yates children. They were descended from the Maryland settlement on Pottinger Creek. Lillian’s formal education began at Phipps Public School. From second grade through grade 12, she attended St. Peter School in Waverly. In high school, her one and only teacher for the four years and all the subjects was Sister Ambrose Martin, OSU. After high school, Lillian followed the call to religious life and entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph. She received the Ursuline habit on August 15, 1930, and the name Sister Margaret Louise.
Sister Margaret Louise was prepared for the apostolate of teaching. Her first assignment was teaching grades seven and eighth at St. Columba School in Louisville. She remained there for 12 years. For the first five of these years, Sister Ambrose Martin, her former teacher, was principal and superior. At this time, she also experienced the Great Flood of 1937. Sister continued teaching the seventh and eighth grades at Clementsville and Howardstown, Ky. In 1953, she began teaching high school at New Haven (on three separate assignments), St. Francis, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, and Hardinsburg, Ky., and Lourdes Central High School in Nebraska City, Neb.
After 59 years of classroom teaching, Sister Margaret Louise returned to Mount Saint Joseph in 1985 and lived in the infirmary. She followed the Motherhouse daily routine during these years until her sudden death, May 28, 1993. Father Anthony Shonis, chaplain, celebrated the funeral Mass on May 31, and gave the homily. Sister Margaret Louise’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery. Her nephews served as pallbearers.