Pediatrician embraced young patients as her own children

Aug. 14, 1951 - Dec. 8, 2017

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pediatrician Mary Charlotte Goessler married late in life and never bore children, but it would not be quite right to say she had no kids.

The brood she cared for and about numbered in the thousands — her patients in a longtime thriving medical practice that started in Bellevue in 1981 and branched out to other locations to the north as she led it over the next quarter-century.

Dr. Goessler was a hardworking clinician running Bellevue Pediatric Associates, an advocate for the children she saw, an educator for their families and a constructive critic of medical institutions when she felt they needed to do better for her patients. Her strong sense of proper medical care helped her transition to administrative positions with Allegheny Health Network and Highmark before relocating to Texas three years ago.

“I don’t know anybody who ever worked at a pediatric practice harder than Mary, and she was beloved by her patients and families,” said Dr. Donald R. Fischer, former chief medical officer for Highmark Health Plan. “She was a bundle of energy and no shrinking violet. She told it like it was, but it was always with the best intent, that she could help things improve if she gave you feedback.”

Dr. Goessler, a former Ohio Township resident who had moved to the Dallas suburb of Fairview, died Friday of ovarian cancer at Medical City Dallas Hospital. She was 66 and had been in good health until the cancer was detected about three weeks before her death.

Some Pittsburghers may remember the pediatrician from frequent television and radio appearances she made to discuss children’s health or other medical topics while running her practice, which had to relocate to a larger Lincoln Avenue office as it grew in popularity. It also added locations in Cranberry and Richland while expanding to a medical staff of 15.

The families that knew Dr. Goessler best were from personal experiences in her office, and those relationships continued after she gave up clinical work in 2007 and moved into health care quality management positions. Dozens of former patients attended her wedding five years ago to William L. Herold.

“Everywhere we went in the North Hills people knew her,” Mr. Herold said. “It was like she stuck with them forever.”

Dr. Goessler, a talented saxophonist since childhood and skilled golfer after taking up the game in her 30s, wanted to practice medicine as long as anyone can remember. She worked from childhood — including raising and breeding miniature Schnauzers, a breed that gave her companionship her entire life — with the intent of saving money for medical school. She eventually obtained bachelor’s and medical degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a master’s in public management from Carnegie Mellon University.

When she opened her own pediatric practice at age 30, she threw herself into it. Her older sister, Helen Goessler, became her longtime office manager.

“She was married to her work,” with a sense of humor and communication skills that enabled her to relate well to everyone, said Helen Goessler, who lived with her sister and Mr. Herold in Fairview.

Colleen Wozniak of Ross, a nurse who worked with Dr. Goessler throughout her years of practice, called her “very direct but very kind. We had several special needs children within our practice, and I will always remember the time and concern she gave on behalf of those parents. ... She loved children, and cared about them like they were her own children.”

Dr. Goessler eventually sold Bellevue Pediatric Associates to Allegheny Health Network, and the practice operates today as part of UPMC. She became head of pediatrics for Allegheny General Hospital and then a medical director of quality management for Highmark. In the latter role, she traveled throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia visiting doctors and working on improvements to their practices.

She spent the past three years as a vice president and medical director for Children’s Health, a medical system based in Dallas.

In addition to her husband and sister, Dr. Goessler is survived by his three sons and seven grandchildren.

Visitation Monday and a Mass Tuesday will be held in Allen, Texas, with arrangements by the Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Second Chance SPCA No Kill Animal Shelter, 1700 J Ave., Plano, Texas 75074.