Frances May was born May 6, 1905, the daughter of Joseph and Bessie Brown Tanner of St. John, Ky. She attended Bethlehem Academy where she received her elementary and secondary schooling from the Sisters of Loretto. At the age of 18, Frances entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph and had a postulancy of nine months. She received the Ursuline habit on March 19, 1924, and was given the name Sister Mary Beatrice.
In 1925, Sister Mary Beatrice was assigned as housekeeper to St. Romuald Convent in Hardinsburg, Ky. She served only a few months as she became ill in January 1926. She had surgery for appendicitis. Although she initially recovered from the surgery, she grew progressively worse from other complications that proved beyond the doctor’s ability to treat successfully.
Sister Mary Beatrice returned to Mount Saint Joseph. She pronounced her vows from her sick bed on August 15, 1926, and died December 13, 1926. The Solemn High Requiem Mass was offered by Father Joseph Diemert, chaplain, assisted by Fathers John Abell, Guido Mensa, and James Higdon. Sister Mary Beatrice’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.