Ann Marie "Sis" Starr

1946 - 2014

Starr, Ann Marie "Sis" (Née Clark ) Died peacefully at home in Glendale, WI, on Tuesday, December 9. Proud mother of Catherine Starr (Frank Veraldi) and Andrew Starr. Loving sister to Penny Clark, Jenny Thomas (Jeff), and Clint Clark (Jennifer). Aunt to Jessica Atkins (Anthony), Jordan Thomas, Christopher Starr, Jocelyn Clark, Benjamin Clark, and Katherine Bradley-Black (Renee). Friend and mentor to countless others. Preceded in death by father Clinton Clark Jr. (Anita) and mother Margaret Clark. Ann was born on April 14, 1946, in Milwaukee, WI, to Clinton "Chico" Clark Jr. and Margaret "Peggy" Clark. She grew up in the Chicago suburbs and graduated from Proviso West High School in 1964. In 1968, she graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Psychology and achieved a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology from Iowa State in 1971. She began her career at the Counseling Center at Bradley University in Peoria, IL, and then served as the Director of The Polydrug Residential and Outpatient Treatment Unit at The Stonehenge Foundation. In 1969, Ann married Philip Starr. In 1975, Ann and Philip moved to the Milwaukee area, where they had two children, Cathy in 1976 and Andrew in 1979. By 1985, the Starr family had settled in Shorewood, WI, where Ann would reside for over 30 years. Ann began her long career at Family Service (now Aurora Family Service) in 1982 and worked there until her retirement in 2012. During her time at Family Service, she taught and supervised mental health students at the Family Therapy Training Institute and served as Director of FTTI until her retirement. Ann was a passionate teacher and mentor and believed in the power of mental health care. She served as President of the Wisconsin Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and held an appointment to the Marriage and Family Therapy Board for the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, where she worked tirelessly to develop policies and promote legislation to strengthen mental health care in Wisconsin. In 1990, Ann was a founding partner of Systemic Perspectives and practiced as a marriage and family therapist there until her death. Ann dedicated her professional and personal life to her belief in the power of family, community, laughter, human compassion, and peace. Her legacy will continue to shine bright in the countless people that she impacted during her life. We will miss her till the end of our days. A memorial service is scheduled for Sunday, December 14, at 4:30 PM at Hubbard Park Lodge in Shorewood, WI. A reception will follow. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Ann's life. In lieu of flowers, Ann asked that donations be made to Aurora Family Service-Family Therapy Training Institute (give.aurora.org, 950 North 12th Street Suite A512; Milwaukee, WI 53233.