Born Sept. 13, 1891, to Clement and Eva Hayden Cecil at St. Joseph, Ky., Mary passed her youthful years with her family within sight of Mount Saint Joseph. She attended Mount Saint Joseph Academy during the school year 1907‑1908, then entered the novitiate. On August 25, 1908, Mary received the Ursuline habit and was given the name Sister Mary Clement.
Sister Mary Clement’s first mission was Stithton, Ky., where she opened St. Patrick School and served as principal and upper grades teacher. Although she was strict, her pupils loved and admired her. One of her pupils told this about her art class: Sister placed a sketch of St. Alphonsus Church on the board and they were told to reproduce it on their papers. While they worked at sketching, Sister told them about the church, its history and its beauties. The class was spellbound and the pupils remarked in telling the story, “Sister must have been very homesick.”
In January 1914, Sister Mary Clement developed pneumonia. She improved, but tuberculosis developed. She was taken to Louisville in March for treatment. By June, her condition had worsened and she was brought back to Mount Saint Joseph where she was carried on a cot to the new infirmary in St. Angela Hall, the first to occupy a room in the contagious disease wing. Sister Mary Clement was strong enough to assist at Mass on May 16, 1915, the first time in 16 months. Pneumonia developed again and after two days of intense suffering, she died on May 20. She had the consolation of having both Father Paul Joseph Volk and Father Louis Hilary Spalding, chaplain, with her during her last hours of suffering. Father James L. Whelan, her former pastor, preached at her funeral Mass. Sister Mary Clement’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery. Among her survivors were her two Ursuline sisters, Sister Alicia and Sister Celestine.