The daughter of William and Finetta Simmons Benedict, Gertrude was born April 14, 1895, in Louisville, Ky. When she was still 19 years of age, she entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph and after an eight‑month postulancy, she received the Ursuline habit on August 10, 1915. Gertrude was given the name Sister Veronica.
Prepared for the teaching apostolate, Sister Veronica’s first assignment was Holy Trinity School at Fredericktown, Ky., where she remained three years teaching primary grade students. Her next assignment took her to St. Thomas School in Farmington, N.M., and after three years there she was missioned to both the public and parochial schools within the towns of Kentucky. Sister Veronica was a teacher of either the primary grades or intermediate grades and spent extra time with the slow learners. Her last school assignment was St. Denis School at Shively where she spent many years.
Sister Veronica returned to Mount Saint Joseph after retiring from teaching in 1966. After some time her health waned and she became a bed patient in the infirmary. Death came to Sister Veronica on August 6, 1977, after her long years of patient waiting. Father Bernard Barnes, acting chaplain, was the celebrant and homilist at her funeral Mass on August 8. He was assisted by Father Leonard Alvey and Msgr. Edward Russell. Sister Veronica was laid to rest in the convent cemetery.