Eileen Marie Howard was born on May 29, 1927, the fourth child of Arnold Ignatius and Ethel Howard of Whitesville, Ky. Baptized on Sunday, July 10, 1927, Eileen was later joined with one more sister and five more brothers over the next 20 years; the complete “list” is — Mary Josephine, Mildred Genevieve, James Leon, Eileen Marie (our Sister Mary Eileen), Ita Isobelle, Robert Carl, Charles Elbert, Daniel Eugene, Michael Lee, and Brice Dean.
In September 1936, after turning 7, Eileen began school just across the road from the Howard farmhouse. She studied under the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth for all of her elementary and secondary education and graduated from St. Mary of the Woods in 1945.
Sister Eileen would later say, “reading was my favorite pastime, the stories took me to another world – the world of wonder and enchantment …. From my earliest day, Jesus-God was all in all to me. In my pre-teen and teenage years, going to church seemed as natural and necessary to me as drinking water.” But other than wondering what it might be like to “carry a roof on her head”, Eileen had not thought of herself as a religious.
In September of 1945 Eileen began her college education at Mount Saint Joseph Junior College with the Ursuline Sisters. Sister Joan Brown became her voice teacher and someone to whom Eileen could talk. “It was the end of my second year [at MSJ] that I realized that God had marked me to be a religious. This initial realization was frightening. But God had his ways.” Thus began the process that led Eileen to begin her faith journey with the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph as a postulant. Thirteen classmates joined her that Saturday, August 14, 1948 —Sisters Mary Louis Bickett, Clarita Browning, Coletta Drury, Jane Irvin Hancock, Mary Afra Henning, Mary Sheila Higdon, Rose Theresa Johnson, Jamesetta Knott, Mary Louise Knott, Mariam Therese Lanham, Mary Renee Monaghan, John Mary O’Reilly, and Ann Marian.
Sister Mary Eileen made her first vows on August 15, 1950, and was immediately assigned to St. Romuald School in Hardinsburg, Ky., to teach grades 4 through 6. Teaching classes other than music seemed to not be something Sister Mary Eileen would do in her ministry. Sister Mary Eileen, for the next 45 years, would teach music to children of all ages throughout Kentucky and a brief time in Missouri. Sister enriched the lives of Kentucky children and adults at St. Thomas More, Paducah; Mount Saint Joseph Academy; St. James, St. Denis and St. Margaret Mary in Louisville; St. Joseph in Leitchfield; and St. Catherine, in New Haven. She also served at St. Teresa in Glennonville, Mo. Sister was music minister at Sts. Joseph and Paul in Owensboro, taught Kindermusik at Brescia College in Owensboro and was Liturgist at MSJ Motherhouse.
Sister Eileen continued her education earning a Baccalaureate degree from Brescia College, a Masters of Music Education from Murray State, and attended workshops and institutes in states throughout the eastern United States.
In 1985, Sister Eileen attended a Kindermusik workshop in Tennessee. This workshop was geared to teach music to very young children and their families. She established the Kindermusik program at Brescia College, reaching out to young children and their families throughout the region. Sister was also an accomplished storyteller and a writer of short stories poetry for the very young.
On retiring to the Motherhouse in 1996, Sister used her talents for many things. Besides being liturgist for the Motherhouse, Sister Eileen shared her artistry with all with her beautiful “thank you” scrolls which she made for many occasions.
Sister Mary Eileen continued using her many talents from her “scooter.” In 2013, Sister gave up many of her cherished activities. Sister succumbed March 8, 2015, in her 67th year of religious life. The Visitation and Wake services were Wednesday afternoon and evening of March 11, 2015 and the funeral Mass was Thursday, March 12 at 10:30 AM.