Mary Starmann-Harrison Puts Her Guests and Patients First

Whether planning a holiday party or running SSM Health Care of Wisconsin, Mary Starmann-Harrison puts her guests and patients first.

Spend any time talking with Mary Starmann-Harrison about her childhood and she will most likely tell you with the most endearing chuckle “I’m the caboose!” It conjures up images of that boxcar at the end of a train, chugging along, bringing up the rear. But in reality, Starmann-Harrison has done everything but bring up the rear: She’s spent 10 years at the helm of SSM Health Care of Wisconsin and has dedicated most of her life to lending her expertise to others, leading a pointed career path that much like her personal life focuses on cultivating and nurturing relationships. To call Mary Starmann-Harrison “a people person” would be to put it lightly.

Growing up last, but never least

“I always wanted to do what my brothers could do,” says Starmann-Harrison of her older siblings, Bob, Dick and Ray. With six years separating her from the youngest of the three, Starmann-Harrison adored the attention she received from her doting brothers, and confesses, “I was a bit of a tomboy. I played football and baseball with the boys and loved all sports.”

Born in the Chicago area to Ray and Rita Starmann, Starmann-Harrison tells of a traditional Catholic upbringing, one that involved Catholic schools and an emphasis on serving others. Her mother, a teacher and homemaker, was very active in charity work and instilled in her daughter a solid sense of giving back to the community.

But, in a non-traditional way for a girl who was born in the ’50s and raised in the ’60s, it was Starmann-Harrison’s father, a biochemist and businessman, who encouraged her to reach for her dreams. “My father believed that you could achieve the world if you were determined to do so,” she says. “He didn’t believe in any obstacles. He was always encouraging me ... I could do anything I wanted as long as I worked hard enough.”

When Starmann-Harrison graduated from high school in 1972, she knew she wanted to get a nursing degree and headed for the warmer climes offered by Arizona State University in Tempe. “I realized my freshman year that I wanted to be in hospital management, and the nursing degree would be a good background,” she states. She pursued a master’s in health services administration while working weekends and evenings as a nurse.

Another, more personal pursuit at ASU was California native Greg Harrison, whom she met at a friend’s wedding. “We got married in 1977 ...” she says with a smile. And if you knew even just the slightest bit more about Starmann-Harrison, the next statement would come as no surprise, “... at Christmas time.”

The most wonderful time of the year “We have enough ornaments to cover five trees!” exclaims Starmann-Harrison’s daughter, Stephanie, 20, who, along with her brother GB, 22, has helped decorate the family Christmas tree many times. But, she mentions, her mother’s particularity has become an annual joke. “We’d often notice that my mom would rearrange things on the tree if we didn’t do it just right.”

“I do love Christmas,” says Starmann-Harrison. “Just like my mother did, and just like her mother did. We always had a huge tree. My mom collected ornaments and I do too. When Greg and I got married, I even had an ornament shower!”

A quick peek inside the Starmann-Harrison wedding album reveals the tree of her youth, graciously decked out from top to bottom, every inch covered and glistening. “There’s Grandma and Grandpa Mistletoe,” she says as she points to two ornaments mid-tree. “I still have them.”

“Christmas is always a great time, I think, especially for my mom because it’s filled with such fun memories,” says Stephanie. “She has all the ornaments we made as kids and ones that have been passed down in the family ... she loves each one for the memory.”

For Starmann-Harrison, the holiday season inspires that childlike awe she remembers as a little girl. “Christmas Eve was a special night. Because I was the youngest in the family and the only one still believing in Santa Claus, everyone decided that Santa came on Christmas Eve. So, when we’d go to pick up my grandparents for dinner, Santa would come to my house,” she says. “We modified a very age-old tradition because no one else in my family wanted to get up on Christmas morning at 5 a.m.!”

The tradition still holds that the family celebrates on Christmas Eve. “We have a lot of family. My mom always had Christmas Eve at our house and now we alternate between here and Chicago with my brothers,” she says. With a consummate cook for a husband, the self-professed foodie and wine lover explains that her family’s holiday meal is a big focus. “We have a tradition of serving prime rib. And another thing we always have for hors d’oeuvres are those miniature hotdogs wrapped in crescent rolls! They’re very uneventful, but the kids love them and they’re a tradition too,” Starmann-Harrison says. “Greg likes to throw in a new dish every year, though something with flair. The family always teases him about what it’s going to be ... he just can’t stand straight tradition.”

Focusing on others