The daughter of Joseph and Mary Anna Boone Head, Jessamine was born September 22, 1924, in New Haven, Ky., the seventh child in a family of nine. Her formal education began at Nelson County Public School, a one‑room school in Boone’s Mill. Jessamine enrolled at St. Catherine School in New Haven for high school. Following her graduation, she entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph. She received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Susanne on August 14, 1943.
Prepared for the teaching apostolate, Sister Susanne’s first assignment was to St. Columba School in Louisville where she taught the second grade for three years. Later assignments took her to numerous parochial schools, teaching primary and intermediate grades, in the Archdiocese of Louisville (St. Columba, St. Bernard, St. Ignatius, and Jeffersontown), and in the Diocese of Owensboro, Ky., (Browns Valley, Cloverport, Earlington, Sorgho, Axtel, and Earlington). Her only out-of-state assignment was to Seven Holy Founders School, Affton, Mo.
Sister Susanne’s full-time teaching career ended when she was diagnosed with cancer in 1980 while teaching at St. Ignatius in Louisville. After recovery from surgery, she served as tutor and library assistant at St. Ignatius School. She moved to St. Bartholomew Convent (Buechel) and served as Reading Specialist at St. Rita School, Okolona. In 1990, she served one year as pastoral minister at St. John, Sunfish, Ky.
Due to open heart surgery in 1991, Sister Susanne was confined to less active service and resided at St. Angela Home, our Ursuline convent on Edenside Avenue in Louisville. After a time of recovery, she served in the Highland Outreach Program. On January 8, 1994, she suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the emergency room at Audubon Regional Medical Center. She died that evening. A visitation was held at Barrett Funeral Home in Louisville on January 10. Her remains were returned to Mount Saint Joseph the next day. The funeral Mass was celebrated by Father Anthony Shonis, Mount Saint Joseph chaplain, on January 12, followed by the burial service in the convent cemetery.