BATON ROUGE – Joe Harris, a distinguished LSU track and field alumni and SEC pole vault champion in 1961, died on June 24 at Sterling Park Health Care Center in Waite Park, Minn. He was 71 years old.
Harris was a three-year letterwinner for the Tigers from 1960-62 and made his mark as one of the premier pole vaulters in the NCAA. He was crowned the SEC Indoor and SEC Outdoor champion as a junior in 1961 and was once the LSU school record holder in the event with a career best of 15 feet, 5 inches.
After completing his collegiate eligibility at LSU, Harris won a gold medal in the pole vault in 1963 at the U.S. Military Games while he served in the U.S. Army.
Harris was born on Oct. 31, 1938, in Jackson, Miss., to Stanley and Nanie Mae Harris. He was married to Ressa E. Stottlemyer on July 4, 1978, at Highland Park United Methodist Church on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He is survived by his wife, Ressa Harris, of Rice, Minn.; his daughters Amanda Elliott of Plano, Texas, and Jill Root of Baton Rouge; and three grandsons Carson, Cullen and Michael.
Funeral services were held Thursday at Benson Funeral Home Chapel in St. Cloud, Minn., and he will be laid to rest at Green Oaks Cemetery in Baton Rouge.