Mary Isabel Browning was born to Mary Agnes Abell Browning and Joseph Leo Browning on November 27, 1932, at Calvary, Ky. She was the sixth of seven children. Her siblings included Father Lawrence Browning CP, Father William Browning CP, Emma Rita, Josephine, Agnes Marie, and Sister Clarita.
Mary Isabel was baptized at Holy Name of Mary Church in Calvary on December 1, 1932, by Father McGee. She was confirmed on May 9, 1950, at the same church.
She received her elementary education at Calvary School where the Ursuline Sisters taught her. Her first three years of high school were spent at St. Augustine in Lebanon and taught by the Sisters of Loretto. She spent her senior year at Mount Saint Joseph Academy and graduated in 1950. Mary Isabel received her AB degree from Brescia College in 1966 and her MA degree from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1970.
She entered the postulancy of the Ursuline Order on February 1, 1950, and was invested and entered the novitiate on August 14, 1950. At this time, she was given the name Sister Marie Goretti. She made her temporary profession as an Ursuline on August 15, 1952, and her perpetual profession on August 15, 1955.
Sister Marie Goretti had one of the most varied ministry careers of any Ursuline Sister. She served in several roles at the Motherhouse. She also served as teacher, principal, parish coordinator, administrative assistant, director of MSJ Conference and Retreat Center, pastoral associate, director of Faith Formation, and outreach in Benton, Ky.
Sister Marie Goretti Browning, 91, died Monday, January 29, 2024, at Mount Saint Joseph in her 74th year of religious life. The funeral Mass was at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, February 1, 2024, at Mount Saint Joseph. Burial was in the convent cemetery.