Joe Dan Harris

Published 3:35 pm Wednesday, September 19, 2018

On  September 17,  2018 , Joe Dan Harris went home to be with The Lord.  Funeral services will be held on Thursday, September 20, 2018 at Marshall and Marshall Funeral Directors in Whitney with Rev. Russell Penney and Barbara Maddox officiating.  Burial will follow at Hillcrest Garden of Memory near Hillsboro.  A visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday evening at the funeral home.

On December 5, 1939, he was born in Houston to Algie Lee and Velma Lake Harris.  Joe Dan and his parents would soon move to Cherokee County, Texas, but with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the need for labor in the war effort escalated dramatically.  After several brief stays in temporary housing, including a converted dairy barn, Orange, Texas became home.  Joe Dan was an outstanding athlete with incredible hand-eye coordination.  In his youth he is most remembered as a baseball pitcher. However, in adulthood, golf, billiards and bow hunting would become his passions.  In 1957, Joe Dan graduated from Stark High School and attended Texas A&M, Sam Houston State University, and Lamar University.  In 1962, he was hired as a mechanic at DuPont’s Sabine River Works plant where he was ultimately promoted to the position of Foreman.  Joe Dan remained with SRW until his retirement in 1998. He also served in the United States Coast Guard Reserve as a Boatswain Mate2nd from 1962 until 1970. Joe Dan was a true patriot.

On September 27, 1963, he and Karen Kay Runnels were joined in marriage.  That 55 year union produced 3 sons and all the needs of a growing family.  In addition to his DuPont duties, Joe Dan was a commercial fisherman, owned a shrimp boat, and he and Kay operated a greenhouse business.  When he wasn’t working, he taught his sons to play baseball, hit a golf ball, fish, hunt, and most importantly to do the right thing and love The Lord.

After retirement, Joe Dan and Kay traveled to many destinations.  They enjoyed many golf trips with friends, vacations with the family and hunting trips.  He also bow hunted across the United States, Newfoundland, and Namibia.  In 2006 Joe Dan and Kay built their dream home in the White Bluff community.  In that home, they hosted friends on countless occasions, and Joe Dan had on-going billiards tournaments for years as Kay supplied the men with snacks and beverages.  Joe Dan and his friends had regular golf games where he often shot at or near his age.  Even when he could no longer play, he would go to the clubhouse to input the scores into the computer for others. Over the years, he and his youngest son Eriic won nearly every golf tournament hosted at White Bluff.

Survivors include his wife Kay; sons Judge Lee Harris and wife Holly; Matthew Harris and wife Sandra;  and Eriic Harris and wife Jennifer; grandchildren, Elizabeth, Brett, Madison, Sarah, Zachery, Kade and Ryan; and 2 great grandchildren, Ty and Easton.  He was a member of Prairie Valley Baptist Church in Whitney.

The family asks that every man who knew and loved Joe Dan to regularly get their PSA checked and see a urologist.  Any increase in PSA is too much!

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hill County C.A.R.E.S, Inc., P.O. Box 783, Whintey, TX 76692.

Condolences may be made at:   www.marshallandmarshallfd.com