Rose Marie Craycroft was born on December 21, 1923, in New Haven, Ky., to George Hix Craycroft and Mary Josephine Hagan Craycroft. She was the second child in a family of 10, three girls and seven boys. Her siblings included Dr. William Francis Craycroft, Dr. Joseph Gerald Craycroft, Rev. George Preston Craycroft, Rev. Bernard Leo Craycroft, Mr. James Frederick Craycroft, Mrs. Mary Josephine Blandford, Mr. Joseph Paul Craycroft, Mrs. Mary Lois Gahlinger and Mr. Edward Clarence Craycroft.
She was baptized on December 23, 1923, in St. Catherine Church in New Haven. On May 30, 1934, she was confirmed in the same church. She received her elementary and high school education from the Mount Saint Joseph Ursulines at St. Catherine School. Following her graduation in 1941, she entered the convent at Mount Saint Joseph. Rose Marie received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Mary Clarence on August 14, 1942. Twenty-five years later, on her Silver Jubilee, she returned to the use of her baptismal name, Sister Rose Marie.
During her years of teaching, Sister Rose Marie furthered her education and received degrees from Ursuline College and Catherine Spalding in Louisville, Ky.
Sister Rose Marie spent 39 years as a teacher in the school systems of the following dioceses: 14 in the Louisville archdiocese, 10 years in the Owensboro diocese, 5 years in the St. Louis archdiocese, and 10 years in the Lincoln diocese. Her last 10 years were spent as a high school librarian.
For five years, she was parish secretary and bookkeeper at St. Christopher Parish, Radcliff, Ky. She then took loving care of her father until his death in 1994.
From 1994 until 2001, Sister Rose Marie was in family ministry with her brother, Father George Craycroft. In November 2001, Sister Rose Marie retired to the Mount Saint Joseph Motherhouse and joined the Powerhouse of Prayer ministry.
Sister Rose Marie Craycroft, 97, died Wednesday, January 13, 2021, at Mount Saint Joseph, in her 79th year of religious life. The funeral Mass was held on Monday, January 18, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. in the Motherhouse Chapel. Burial was in the convent cemetery.