Born October 6, 1884, in Louisville, Ky., Sarah was the daughter of W.A. and Catherine Brogan Barrett. At the age of 17, Sarah entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph and on March 19, 1902, received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Mary Magdalene.
Prepared for the teaching apostolate, Sister Mary Magdalene first taught at St. Romuald School in Hardinsburg, Ky. Later, she was assigned to St. Paul School in Louisville where she was principal of the grade school and teacher of the upper grades for 20 years. In 1928, Sister Mary Magdalene was elected to the office of Mother Zelatrix (community secretary). She served one three-year term in this position and returned to St. Paul under a doctor’s care for one year. She was assigned to St. Mary Home in Owensboro for the following year and was missioned to Waterflow, N.M., for one year. She was appointed Director of Novices in 1934, and in June 1936 was reassigned to New Mexico, this time to Farmington. In the 1938-1940 school year she taught at Central City, Ky. She was elected to the office of Mother Assistant in 1940 and served in that position for one three-year term. She spent the following six years at St. Mary Home, one year teaching sixth grade at SS. Joseph and Paul in Owensboro, and 11 years at St. Denis School at Shively, Ky.
Sister Mary Magdalene retired from teaching in 1961 and returned to Mount Saint Joseph. She was a patient in the infirmary suffering from diabetes and heart complications. She developed pneumonia and died at Mercy Hospital in Owensboro on September 11, 1965. Msgr. Albert Thompson, chaplain, celebrated the funeral Mass two days later. Sister Mary Magdalene’s remains are laid to in the convent cemetery.