Born Sept. 9, 1904, in Whitesville, Ky., Mary Helen was the daughter of Peter and Catherine Hoheimer Cooper. The family moved from Whitesville to Owensboro before Helen was school age. She began her formal education at St. Frances Academy under the direction of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. Later she transferred to St. Joseph School taught by the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. Helen attended high school at Mount Saint Joseph Academy. In December 1920, she entered the novitiate. On August 24, 1921, Helen received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Mary Gregory.
Sister Mary Gregory began her apostolate at St. Elizabeth School in Curdsville, Ky., teaching grades one and two. She taught primary grades in the following Kentucky schools: Livermore, Waverly, Stanley, Browns Valley, Knottsville, Rome, Hardinsburg, Sorgho, Owensboro (Blessed Mother and Immaculate), Louisville (St. Columba and St. Paul), and Jeffersontown. She also taught in Jeffersonville, Ind., and in Affton, Mo. Sister Mary Gregory was a highly successful primary teacher. She showed a special presence with little children. The students loved her and loved school because of her. Her simple, gentle and childlike manner with the children endeared her to their parents as well.
Throughout her years of teaching, Sister Mary Gregory suffered fragile health. She retired in 1971. As long as she was able, she continued promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart, lacing hundreds of badges and distributing them to family, friends and visitors. She spent her final months in the infirmary at Mount Saint Joseph, unable to communicate. She lived quietly and peacefully spending many hours at the window watching animals, birds and people. She died March 15, 1989. On March 18, Msgr. Bernard Powers offered the funeral Mass. Sister Mary Gregory’s remains rest in the convent cemetery.