Born April 22, 1905, to William and Elizabeth Boone Ford in New Haven, Ky., Louise was the youngest in her family. Her parents trained their children according to the instructions of their venerable pastor, Father William Hogarty. When Louise was four years old, her father died following an accident at work. She attended St. Catherine Elementary and High School in New Haven. At age 17, Louise entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph. On March 19, 1923, she received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Rose Mary.
At her first assignment in 1924, Sister Rose Mary spent 11 years at St. James School in Louisville. Her next assignment was St. Martin School in Flaherty, Ky., followed by St. Brigid School in Vine Grove, Ky. In 1949, she was assigned to Seven Holy Founders School in Affton, Mo. She came back to Kentucky in 1953 and taught at Blessed Mother in Owensboro, St. Edward in Jeffersontown and St. Margaret Mary in Lyndon.
Sister Rose Mary showed a special affinity for children with learning difficulties, nurturing in them the self-assurance that led to excitement about the joy of learning and achieving success. Although she never had the opportunity, she always expressed the desire to teach African and Native Americans.
After 49 years of teaching little children, failing health forced Sister Rose Mary to retire. She came back to Mount Saint Joseph at the end of the school year in 1971. Her days were spent reading, praying, visiting with the other Sisters in the infirmary and enjoying the occasional contacts with friends and former pupils. Sister Rose Mary was a great lover of people and found loneliness her greatest suffering during her last illness. She died at Mercy Hospital in Owensboro, May 25, 1972. Msgr. Bernard Powers and four other priests celebrated the funeral Mass at Mount Saint Joseph on May 27, 1972. Sister Rose Mary’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery.