Born March 6, 1895, in Mannsville, Ky., Lena was the oldest child of John and Nina Adams Padgett. She was not baptized until the family moved to Stithton in 1897, where her parents had their marriage rectified by Father James L. Whelan at St. Patrick Church. Lena’s mother died in 1906 at the birth of the youngest child. Lena was 11 years old and assumed the care of the new baby who only lived three months. She also took care of her brother and sister, and managed the household. Opportunity for education was very limited for Lena, but she did attend a one‑room school for a short time.
Following her father’s death in 1917, she worked for a time in the home of another family assisting with the housekeeping and caring for the children. She had the responsibility of her younger sister, Nina Mary. Sister Stanislaus Hagan, OSU, (teacher at St. Patrick in Stithton), directed Lena to Mount Saint Joseph where she entered the novitiate. She continued to be the guardian of her little sister, Mary, an orphan, living and going to school at the Academy. Lena received the Ursuline habit on August 5, 1918, and the name Sister Patrice.
In service to the community, Sister Patrice used her skills in homemaking and bringing care and comfort to the sick. She was missioned to Holy Cross, Earlington, Shively, and New Haven in Kentucky and to Glennonville, Mo. She was homemaker at St. Mary Home in Owensboro from 1921-1935, and at the bishop’s residence from 1942 to 1949. In 1950, Sister Patrice returned to the Mount to serve as head nurse in the infirmary. She also served, for a time, as dorm mother in the Academy. Although Sister Patrice had little formal education, the wisdom, the strength, and the knowledge gained in her life experiences were recognized as a great source of strength for the community. Her skill in caring for the sick was a natural gift and she knew how to cook, sew, and manage a household. Sister Patrice, a humble woman of deep prayer and compassion, always acted with dignity and composure in her daily approach to life and loving.
Confined to her room in the infirmary in 1981, Sister Patrice’s greatest suffering was the loss of her hearing and eyesight. Death came to her on May 30, 1983. Father Bernard Barnes, O.S.M., and Father Lyle Johnson, C.PP.S, concelebrated her funeral Mass two days later on June 1. Sister Patrice’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery, next to her orphaned younger sister, Nina Mary, who died in 1938.