Born July 17, 1896, to Charles and Mary Josephine Fry Browning at St. Mary, Ky., Mary Alice brightened the lives of that Catholic family. They were thrifty, hard‑working people who lived near Lebanon, and were members of St. Charles parish. Later the family moved to Lebanon. Alice was educated in the Marion County public schools. When she became interested in religious life, her pastor directed her to the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph. After a three‑month postulancy, Mary Alice received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Mary Carmel on May 5, 1914.
In 1915, Sister Mary Carmel was assigned to St. Peter School in Waverly, Ky., where she taught the lower grades for a year. Her next assignments were to Louisville (St. Columba), Fairfield, Earlington, Cloverport, and St. Lawrence in Kentucky, and Glennonville, Mo. In 1928, she began teaching high schools in Kentucky at Browns Valley, Howardstown, Cloverport, Owensboro (St. Joseph), Flaherty (on three separate occasions), St. Francis (on two separate occasions), Holy Cross, and St. Charles, Kentucky, as well as St. Bernard Academy, Nebraska City, Neb. In 1952, Sister Mary Carmel began a 28-year assignment as English and history professor at Brescia College in Owensboro. During these years, she published three books, Kentucky Authors, Think Big, and Mustard Seed. She also conducted writer’s workshops at several universities. In 1978, she established a scholarship for students of English at Brescia College. Sister Mary Carmel retired from teaching, but continued to live at Brescia, tutoring students and working on Echoes, an unpublished, private collection of devotional thoughts from various sources.
Sister Mary Carmel suffered a fatal heart attack on May 24, 1980, at Mercy Hospital in Owensboro. The wake service was held at Brescia College the following day. A Mass for the Dead was celebrated in Brescia College Chapel on May 26. Father Raymond Hughes, Sister’s cousin, and five other priests concelebrated the funeral Mass at Mount Saint Joseph on May 27, 1980. Father Ben Luther gave the homily. Sister’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.