Mary Emma was born March 28, 1902, the daughter of Lillard and Eliza Coomes Fulkerson of Rome, Ky. Her early education began in the public schools of Davies County. She later attended St. Elizabeth School in Curdsville, staffed by the Ursuline Sisters. When 20 years of age, Mary Emma entered the novitiate of Mount Saint Joseph on September 8, 1922. She had applied the previous year but was refused due to ill health. After a six-month postulancy, she received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Mary Bridget on March 19, 1923.
Prepared for an apostolate of domestic service, Sister Mary Bridget served as a housekeeper on all her missions. Her first assignment was to the convent at Stanley, Ky., where she remained for a year. Other assignments took her to Indiana (Jeffersonville), and New Mexico (Waterflow); and the Kentucky towns of Raywick (St. Joseph), Fancy Farm, Hardinsburg, Browns Valley, Rome, Fredericktown (three times), Axtel, Rome (twice), Leitchfield (St. Paul), Knottsville, and Brescia College in Owensboro. For many years, Sister suffered from crippling arthritis. She endured the suffering with patience and gracefully continued the responsibility of caring for the teaching Sisters.
Sister Mary Bridget retired from her housekeeping duties in 1966 and returned to Mount Saint Joseph where she became practically helpless due to the severe rheumatoid arthritis. Her final years were spent in the infirmary. Death came to her on October 15, 1983. Two days later, the funeral Mass was celebrated by Father Bernard Barnes, OSM, chaplain. Sister Mary Bridget’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.