The US socialite who gave it all up to become a Carmelite nun

A 92-year-old nun, who took a vow of silence, solitude and poverty, has died at the monastery where she lived for the past three decades - however the full story of Sister Mary Joseph's life is far from traditional.

Until she dedicated herself to a life of prayer she was known as Ann Russell Miller, a wealthy San Francisco socialite who hosted lavish parties, had season tickets to the opera and was the mother of ten children.

Born in 1928, Ann had dreams of becoming a nun, but she fell in love instead.

At 20, she married Richard Miller, who became vice president of Pacific Gas and Electric, a utility company.

"By age 27 she had five kids," says her youngest son, Mark Miller, "and then she went on to have five more - a basketball team of each sex. Planned Parenthood she called it.

"She had a million and one friends. She smoked, she drank, she played cards. She became an open water diver.