Awards

Honorary Degree - 1999

L.H.D.

Doctor of Humane Letters

Commencement

Kokomo, Indiana

Presenter: Myles Brand

IU Kokomo Distinguished Service Award - 1996

About Sister Mary Martin McEntee

Until her retirement in late 1996, McEntee served the health care community of north central Indiana for nearly 30 years. Most of that time she spent as president and CEO of Saint Joseph Hospital & Health Center in Kokomo. Sister Marty, as she is affectionately known, has touched the lives of thousands within Howard County, throughout Indiana, and beyond.

Religious groups, civic and charitable organizations, business, industry, and education all have benefited from Sister Marty's legacy of service. Included in her tireless efforts has been her relationship with IU Kokomo, where she served on the Board of Advisors for more than 20 years -- including chairing the board for two years -- and was a member of the executive, planning and bylaw committees.

In 1989, IUK presented McEntee with its Community Service Award, and the IUK Alumni Association honored her with its Service Award in 1996. She is currently co-chairing a Destination: Education IUK committee.

A native of Atlanta, Ind., McEntee moved with her family to Kokomo as a young child. She graduated from Kokomo High School and worked for First National Bank for a year and a half after graduation. In September of 1954, she entered the Novitate and Junior College at St. Joseph Convent in Tipton.

Before entering health care, she taught junior high school for three years at St. John's School in Tipton and for five years at St. Paul's School in Marion. In 1966, she earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio, and two years later she received a master's degree in health administration from St. Louis University in St. Louis, Mo.

For one year she served as an administrative resident at Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas; she then returned to Indiana where she was assigned as associate administrator at Saint Joseph Hospital & Health Center. After only three months at Saint Joseph, when the administrator left for another position, McEntee was tapped for the position. During her tenure, she helped the facility expand its services to include radiation oncology, renal dialysis, and magnetic resonance imaging, as well as the Saint Joseph At Home and Saint Joseph At Work programs, child care and the Clinic of Hope.

For her service, McEntee also has received the Indiana Hospital Association's Distinguished Service Award, the Kokomo Business Quarterly's Business Person of the Year Award, the Community Foundation of Howard County's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Athena Award.