Mary Margaret Harlan

Mary Margaret Harlan, daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, world traveler, successful entrepreneur, teller of tales, master of wit, high priestess of life, and the most exciting person many have ever known, climbed the golden staircase on Saturday, the 10th of October 2020, at the age of 71.

God broke the mold with Mary. She entered life with a stutter and an unshakable will to beat it and anything else that stood in the way.

Mary was born into a life of comfort—Summers at River Oaks Country Club and Wimberly, Texas, Will Rogers Elementary, Lee High School, Pine Manor College, University of Texas, and Boston University. But she left it all behind to conquer the world.

She walked among snipers, presidents, refugees, and CEO’s. She was the daughter of a decorated FBI man but knew Timothy Leary in his heyday and saw Hendrix live in London.

Mary introduced Chinese wok cooking to rural Texas in the early ’70s and moved her son Daniel to Greece and Italy to learn at a young age just how much possibility the world held for him (lessons that shaped his life forever).

Mary was tall, beautiful, and immediately commanded any room she walked into. Regal and rebellious, she had a look on her face that said, “yes, I do know more than you do, and no, I won’t tell you what it is. But don’t worry; it’s going to be ok.”

Vivacious and outgoing, she was a sphinx-like mystery who could learn your life story in a split second and make you feel like she was your age-old friend without revealing a thing about herself.

Mary took children to see foreign movies with no dialogue just to get their wheels turning. She taught the art of French cooking at a community college for fun, lived on a vineyard in Assisi, Italy and showed her then eight-year-old son how to dive for sea urchins off the coast of Zakynthos, Greece.

Widowed young, she juggled single motherhood, a U of H masters program, and building a successful global consulting business like it was nothing.

Decades ago, when people started asking, “how can women have it all?” Mary answered by doing it. She walked the halls of the White House, the tarmac of Air Force 1, and held forth in boardrooms from Perrier to Duke Energy.

At 59 years old, most people start living like they’re on the tail end of the hayride. But Mary was just getting started.

She witnessed the birth of two incredible grandchildren who matched her wit, presence, and power pound for pound. Became an adjunct professor. And she swiped right and met Phil Martin, the love of her life. They traveled the world together from Burma to Budapest, rode elephants, and swam in the Andaman Sea.

Mary believed in her heart that love and respect for all people were the not-so-secret ingredients to a life well lived on planet earth and that what ties us together as a species is stronger than what works to pull us apart.

She leaves us when we need her the most. In a world that has moved apart, Mary would tell us to come together.

Mary was fond of saying, “what got you here won’t get you there.” And that has never been more true than now. Her hand is off the wheel, and she joins us riding in a spiritual shotgun. But her message to all who knew her is the same: unconditional love will win the day.

Mary joins mother Polly, father Bill, and first husband Dan Sr. in that great frequent flyers lounge in the sky. She is survived by her rock and husband, Phil Martin; “One and Only Number 1 Son” Daniel Sterling Sugulas II; Daniel’s wife, Melissa; and the heirs of Mary’s greatness, grandchildren Scarlett and Scout. Mary also leaves behind siblings Florence Jean Harlan & Thomas Adkerson Harlan, Thomas’s wife Cameron, as well as countless nieces and nephews, fans, friends, well-wishers, and those in lifelong awe of all that she was and all that she did.

Friends are cordially invited to greet the family and share remembrances of Mary during a memorial reception and celebration of her life from twelve o’clock noon until three o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday, the 24th of October, in the grand foyer of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family kindly requests that you please consider contributing to Mary’s favorite charity, The Houston Foodbank, c/o Donor Services, 535 Portwall St., Houston, TX 77029 (www.houstonfoodbank.org).

“Sleep softly, sweet Mary Margaret. You will be forever loved and missed...”