Joseph "Buck" Alan Harris Jr.

Joseph was a beloved presence in the lives he touched, meeting the days with a steady resilience that carried him through life’s changes with quiet strength. He found comfort and joy in simple, enduring beauty—loving where the sun shines and the skies are blue. In that spirit, those who mourn him also honor the wish: may all your blues be the ocean and the sky.

Joseph was the long-time loving partner to Alicia A. Connelly. He is also survived by his son, Jacob "Jake" Mills Harris; his granddaughter, Mackenzie Harris; and his grandson, Colton Harris, along with other loving family members and friends.

The family extends sincere gratitude to his special caregivers—Tammy Cutler, Diana Cherry, and Gladys Gregory—for their kindness, love and devoted care.

The family also extends their gratitude to Buck's therapy team; Amy Wrightson, Aileen Brown, Mayleen Martin, and Matt Huddle for their endless support to help Buck maintain his health and strength through this long journey.

There will be a celebration of Buck's life in August, please check back for date and time.

Buck's final resting place will be the Neptune Memorial Reef off the coast of Miami.

“Give us grace and strength to persevere. Give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind. Spare to us our friends and soften to us our enemies. Give us the strength to encounter that which is to come, that we may be brave in peril, constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath and in all changes of fortune, and down to the gates of death loyal and loving to one another.”

—Robert Louis Stevenson