Born August 11, 1892, in West Louisville, Ky., Laurentia was the daughter of Alonzo and Catherine Vettito Drury. She was one of eight children and her father died when Laurentia was quite young. She attended high school at Mount Saint Joseph Academy during the years 1909‑1913, and entered the novitiate that summer. Following a 13‑month postulancy, Laurentia received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Michelle on August 5, 1913.
Sister Michelle prepared for a teaching apostolate and was assigned first to immaculate Conception School in Earlington, Ky. Her next assignment took her to St. Columba School in Louisville, then to Holy Name of Mary School in Calvary, Ky. She taught the high school classes at Holy Name and spent 39 years teaching in the parochial and public high schools of Kentucky, with a nine‑year stint in Fredericktown at Holy Trinity School. Sister Michelle taught for five years in Nebraska City, Neb. During these years she received her bachelor’s degree from Xavier College in Cincinnati, and her master’s degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Suffering from cancer of the esophagus, Sister Michelle was removed from her teaching assignment at St. William High School in Knottsville, Ky., during January 1965, and was given a life expectancy of three months. Unwilling to go off duty, she was assigned as local superior at Brescia College in Owensboro with limited duties. Eventually Sister Michelle was admitted to Mercy Hospital in Owensboro where she died on August 20, 1965. Her Requiem Mass was offered by Msgr. Albert Thompson. With her nephews serving as pallbearers, Sister Michelle was laid to rest in the convent cemetery.