Born Jan. 22, 1892, Frances Rosalia was one of eight children born to Samuel and Anna Lucy Meagher Pike in Waverly, Ky. When Frances was 2 years old, her mother died and she went to live with an aunt and uncle near Uniontown. Her formal education began at Hite School, a public school located in the Uniontown area. When she was 10 years old, Frances’ father remarried and she returned home to Waverly to live with her brothers and sisters. Her education continued in the public schools there. When Frances was 16, her father died. She graduated from Mount Saint Joseph Academy in 1910 and entered the novitiate. Frances received the Ursuline habit on August 30, 1910, and the name Sister Mary Gertrude.
Prepared for the teaching apostolate, Sister Mary Gertrude’s years were spent teaching the middle grades at numerous schools staffed by the Ursuline Sisters throughout Kentucky, Nebraska, Missouri and New Mexico. In 1911, she began teaching at St. James in Louisville, followed by St. Francis (Raywick, Ky.), Blanco, (N.M.), Wynot, Snyder, Nebraska City, and Bow Valley (Neb.), Hardinsburg, Curdsville, Sorgho, and Browns Valley (Ky.), Plattsmouth and Paul (Neb.), Waterflow (N.M.), Holy Cross, St. Raphael, Knottsville, and St. Joseph (Owensboro, Ky.), Glennonville (Mo.), Fredericktown and Holy Cross (Ky.), Plattsmouth (Neb.), St. Charles (Lebanon), Holy Cross, St. Ignatius and Mother of Good Counsel (Louisville), all in Kentucky.
Sister Mary Gertrude retired from teaching in 1967 and returned to Mount Saint Joseph. She was able to enjoy the various activities of the senior Sisters until 1989. She was hospitalized at Mercy Hospital in Owensboro with pneumonia. Later, she was readmitted to Mercy Hospital with a fractured hip. Sister Mary Gertrude developed a heart irregularity and was admitted to Mercy Hospital on November 8, 1990. She died early in the morning, five days later, Nov. 13. She had hoped to reach one hundred years of age, but had to settle for 98.
The funeral Mass was concelebrated by Fathers Pike Powell and James Hite, both relatives, and Msgr. Bernard Powers. Sister Mary Gertrude’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.