The daughter of Cally and Mary Greenwell Culver, Mary Ellen was born May 12, 1885, in New Haven, Ky. She spent her early years there and began her education in the public school system of Nelson County. After the Culver family moved to Stanley, she attended Mount Saint Joseph Academy and entered the novitiate in 1906. Mary Ellen received the Ursuline habit on June 3, 1906, and was given the name Sister Mary Ida.
After the regular training of two years, Sister Mary Ida was sent to St. Paul School in Louisville as a teacher of the primary grades. She returned to Mount Saint Joseph for two years. Her next assignment was St. Peter School at Waverly, Ky., in 1911.
Sister Mary Ida left her classroom at St. Peter in Waverly at lunchtime on May 5, 1915. She suffered a cerebral hemorrhage as she entered the convent door. She did not regain consciousness, but even in her delirium, she constantly repeated the beautiful prayer, “Jesus, mercy, Mary, help.” She died two days later at Mount Saint Joseph, as the chaplain was administering the sacrament of Extreme Unction. Following the funeral Mass, Sister Mary Ida’s remains were buried in the convent cemetery, a few days before her thirtieth birthday.