Norma Jean was the oldest of the seven children, born on Feb. 5, 1932, to Robert and Teresa Huntley Yates of Vine Grove, Ky. Following grammar school, she attended Rineyville High School in Rineyville. At the age of 17, she entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph, September 7, 1949. She received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Mary Esther on August 14, 1950.
Sister Mary Esther was first assigned to St. Catherine School at New Haven, Ky., in 1952 for two years, teaching grade three. Sister’s next assignments were to St. William School at Knottsville, Ky., and St. Joseph School and St. Pius X School in Owensboro, teaching grades three and four.
Sister Mary Esther returned to Mount Saint Joseph in the summer of 1960 and was diagnosed with cancer. She was bedfast in the infirmary for several months. She died December 26, 1960, in the eleventh year of her religious life. Msgr. Gilbert Henninger, chaplain, celebrated the funeral Mass. Sister Mary Esther’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.