Sister Robert Ann began her life of pilgrim journeying as Mary Ester Virginia Wheatley, joining the family of Wheatleys who arrived in Breckinridge County, Ky., in 1791— the first Catholics in the Breckinridge Hills. Ester was born on Monday December 6, 1920, the fifth child born to Robert E. and Mary Anna Beavin Wheatley, in Cloverport. She joined two brothers, Robert and Michael Allen and a sister, Helen Beatrice. Isadore died in infancy. Over the next 10 years the family would grow to include three more brothers — Raymond Earl, Adrian Michael and Wallace a half brother; one more sister, Cecilia Rose and a little brother who also died in infancy. On the feast of Saint Joseph, Father J.S. Henry baptized her at St. Rose of Lima Church on Saturday, March 19, 1920. When she was 6, Ester began her education at Hites Run School. She received the sacrament of Confirmation by Bishop J.A. Floersh on May 17, 1934, at St. Rose of Lima Church. By 1936, Ester had completed eighth grade, graduating from Hites Run.
For the next three and one-half years she worked with her mother caring for the home , especially helping her mother quilt for the Eleanor Beard Hedgelands Studio of Hardinsburg. These three years, 1936-39, were in the height of the Great Depression, and Ester’s quilting work with her mother made her part of a rather special group of women. The Eleanor Beard Studio was a place of some fame: featured nationally in Good Housekeeping and Arts and Decorations magazines. Historians regarded the Studio as one of the most successful of the Kentucky quilt cottage industries; researchers credited it with “the survival of Hardinsburg and surrounding towns during the Depression.” Their quilts reached the homes of the rich and famous: Henry Fonda, Princess Grace, the Duchess of Windsor, the Rockefellers, Eisenhowers and Roosevelts.
Ester wanted to be a sister. She never worked with the Ursulines, but introduced herself to Mother Teresita by letter, completed the application forms, and was highly recommended by Father Mills. In the middle of the winter 1940, on Thursday, February 1st, Ester began her postulancy at Mount Saint Joseph, and six months later on Wednesday, August 14, received the habit and the name, Sister Robert Ann. She struggled with terrible homesickness during the novitiate, dreaming one night that she was running toward home. The Blessed Mother asked Sister where she was going and told her, “go back to the Mount that is your home now.” Next morning, miracle or not, the homesickness was cured. She made temporary vows on Saturday, August 15, 1942, and began her mission as housekeeper at Saint Anthony Convent in Peonia, Ky.
Over the next 50 years she would experience many ministries and missions: housekeeping at Browns Valley, Fairfield and St. Paul, Louisville. She did some substitute teaching and was given her own classroom in 1947 at Saint Charles, Bardwell, Ky., before she had even begun high school. Over the next seven summers she completed high school, graduating from Mount Saint Joseph Academy in 1955, all the while teaching at Saint Benedict in Wax, Saint Paul in Leitchfield and Saint Catherine in New Haven, all in Kentucky. Over the next 17 summers, she earned an AB degree in education from Brescia College, graduating in 1972. During those years she continued to teach at nine different schools in Kentucky, New Mexico and Nebraska. During those years she enhanced her academic education and teaching skills. Sister also attended the schools of suffering and ill health. She remained open to new experiences and worked for a time in the Maple Mount post office. She was an avid Kentucky Wildcat basketball fan.
Armed with a degree from Brescia while earning a master of arts from Western Kentucky University, she continued teaching for the next eight years at four more schools in Kentucky and Nebraska. After a health leave, she became a tutor, a librarian, a secretary, an English-as-a-second-language instructor, and finally a pastoral caregiver.
Sister came home in 1996. In 2002, she moved into Saint Joseph Villa. On Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012, Jesus called Sister Robert Ann to her home in heaven to be with the angels and saints eternally singing God’s praise. Following the Mass of Resurrection, Wednesday, April 11 at 10:30 a.m., Sister Robert Ann’s remains were taken in solemn procession for burial in Mount Saint Joseph Cemetery.