Better Know a Member – Susie Harmless
Rotary’s own Executive Director, Susie Harmless, was raised as a daughter of a career Air Force Officer. She, her sister and mother joyfully followed Dad all over the country and the world where she was blessed to experience living in Germany and Japan. She began her college career at the University of Maryland in Munich, Germany and finished her degree in Political Science on the main campus at College Park, Maryland.
Upon retirement from the Air Force, her father became Director of Development for DePauw University in Greencastle. It was the summer between her Junior and Senior years that she met her husband and partner for life, Michael. Soon after college they married, had one (1) wonderful daughter, Heather, and have lived in Greencastle for thirty (30) years. Michael served the community of Greencastle for eight (8) years as the Mayor of Greencastle and later joined Crowe Horwath as a Director. Their daughter, Heather, Director of Client Services for Multiple Sclerosis of Indiana is married to Bart who is employed by Baldwin & Lyons.
Prior to joining Rotary as our Executive Director, Susie enjoyed a career in state government working for the Indiana Department of Commerce where she was Director of Community Development and also worked within the Indiana Department of Revenue. Her time with Rotary has gone very quickly for her over these past six (6) years and she feels that Rotary is never a dull moment. The continual planning for wonderful speakers/meetings each week keeps her and staff very active to meet the requirements of the club meetings and our members. Susie truly enjoys, and would say her favorite piece of Rotary is being able to have interaction with club members from such diverse backgrounds. She feels continually enriched by knowing our members, and by planning and serving the transitions from year to year with the Rotary’s Board.
Rotary not only touches Susie’s professional life, but also touches her personally as she feels better informed on issues of the state and world which is a direct result of the quality of our programs, feels connected internationally due to her attendance and participation in the International Convention and is pleased to be able to serve others through the work that Rotary does here and in the world.
Susie’s hobbies and interests include loving to cook, consuming wonderful wine and traveling. She has spent some time recently being involved with the American Pianist Association as she loves music.
Her only regret may be that she did not go to law school to obtain a degree as she has always wanted to be an attorney. Her continued drive each day comes from her father’s influence on her throughout her life where he encouraged her to “always try harder” which is why she is so pleased to see our club always reaching to improve and to try harder to be the best service club in the state.
When asked whose the most interesting person Susie has ever met, she quickly noted that her two (2) meetings with Hillary Clinton rank high on her list as they both shared their passions for public and community service for others.
