Elizabeth Ann, born March 3, 1935, in Lyons, Ky., was the second daughter of Bob and Pauline Clark Williamson. When the first children were school age, they moved to their new farm in the Gethsemani area, and it was then that Bob and Pauline had their marriage rectified and the children baptized. Betty attended grade school at St. Vincent de Paul in New Hope and for high school, she went to St. Catherine in New Haven. When she was 16, she entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph. On August 14, 1952, Betty received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Mary Christopher.
Sister Mary Christopher prepared for elementary teaching with a concentration in “new math.” Her first assignment was SS. Joseph and Paul School in Owensboro. She was later assigned to Sorgho, St. Lawrence, Lyndon, and to Precious Blood School in Owensboro. In 1965, she was missioned to Seven Holy Founders in Affton, Mo. From September to December in 1969, she taught at St. James in Louisville. She spent the year of 1970 on Leave of Absence. During this time, she did social work in Indiana. Sister returned to the Community on January 1, 1971, convinced that this type of work was not for her. She spent the next semester at Brescia College in Owensboro and then was assigned to St. Thomas More School at Paducah, Ky., for one year. In 1972, Sister Mary Christopher returned to St. Margaret Mary School in Lyndon.
Sister Mary Christopher passed away on April 24, 1973, and Mass was offered for her in the convent chapel. Sister’s remains were brought to Mount Saint Joseph the following day for the wake service and vigil. The spirit of compassionate understanding and love of the Ursuline community and many friends helped to console her deeply grieving family. On April 26, Msgr. Bernard Powers, chaplain, Father Richard Grenough, assistant pastor at St. Margaret Mary, Father James Hagan, a high school classmate, Msgr. Edward Russell, assistant chaplain, and Father George Hancock, vicar general, concelebrated the funeral Mass. Sister Mary Christopher’s remains rest in peace in the convent cemetery.