Born on Jan. 23, 1895, in St. Mary, Ky., Sarah Della was the daughter of George Edward and Anna Elizabeth Carrico Mattingly. From her parents, Della learned about her ancestors who came from England in 1634 with Lord Baltimore’s Colony seeking religious liberty. They were among the pioneers who came from Maryland to Hardin Creek, Ky., in 1786. When Della was 6 years old, she began her formal education in a one‑room public school at St. Charles. Eight years later, she came to Mount Saint Joseph Academy. After two years of high school, Della entered the novitiate. She received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Mary Anna on Nov. 21, 1912. This day was special for the Mount Saint Joseph Ursuline community for it was the first time that Sister Aloysius Willett presided at an investment ceremony. The Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph became an independent community just a month earlier.
In 1913, Sister Mary Anna’s first assignment was at St. Alphonsus Boys’ School, across the road from Mount Saint Joseph Academy. The following year Sister Mary Anna began a 12-year teaching assignment at Holy Cross High School in Loretto, Ky., a public school. She continued to teach in other Kentucky high schools: Stanley, Waverly, and St. Francis. She taught at St. Bernard Academy, Nebraska City, Neb., from 1938 to 1944. During her years at Nebraska City, Sister Mary Anna earned her master’s degree in English from Creighton University in Omaha. She returned to Owensboro and taught at St. Joseph High School for three years. She was then assigned to Mount Saint Joseph Academy from 1947-1968, teaching English and serving as advisor for the school publication, The Mount.
In 1969, Sister Mary Anna retired from active teaching and spent many years doing the things she had always looked forward to -‑ reading classics, studying Scripture, working on a genealogy of the Maryland Mattinglys, and living a prayerful, quiet life at the place she loved. Death came to her on June 11, 1991. Two days later, Father Anthony Ziegler and Msgr. Bernard Powers concelebrated the funeral Mass. Father Ziegler gave the homily. Sister Mary Anna’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.