Joel Edward Harris' Obituary
June 15, 2026 – Joel Edward Harris, son of Gerald Cabler “Chick” Harris and Olivia Fern Calpin, born January 12, 1947 in San Diego, California, passed away after bravely facing ALS. An alumnus of the Euclid School, Horace Mann JH, and Brown Military Academy, Joel graduated from Crawford HS in 1965. He went on to play football for newly-formed Mesa College (now PLNU) where he achieved a championship victory at the 1966 Elks Bowl, then played for California Western University (now United States International University). Joel was initiated into Kappa Sigma’s Epsilon-Iota Chapter in 1968 at San Diego State College and graduated in 1970. He later achieved a Masters in Education from Azusa-Pacific in 1983. After jobs with SeaWorld, UPS, and Union Oil, Joel worked for San Diego City Schools for nearly 42 years, excelling as an adaptive physical education (A.P.E.) coach and high school football coach at numerous county schools, including Mission Bay HS, Christian HS, Roosevelt JH, Lincoln HS, and San Diego HS. Joel was an avid Padres fan and also enjoyed coin collecting, trains, riding Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland, snorkeling the Truckee River in Lake Tahoe, swimming in Mission Bay, and could instantaneously provide a weather report to anyone, including providing high- and low-tide predictions. Joel also had a fantastic tendency to be in the right place at the right time, including personally interacting with President John F. Kennedy, meeting with Don Coryell for football advice, and running into Bob Hope and Walt Disney together on the putting green. A great-grandson of J.R. Harris “the Jeweler” who came to San Diego in 1885 from Virginia, Joel greatly enjoyed genealogy and was a living historian of his family and their friends. Joel is preceded in death by his parents and brother, Gerald “Jerry” Cabler Harris, Jr. He is survived by his wife Nancy Lee Cobern of 43 years, twin sons Cory Gerald Harris (Lauren) and Troy Lee Harris, daughter Erin Mina Harris Harding (Patrick), all of San Diego; and brother Lee Arnold “Nokie” Harris (Donna) of Atlanta, Georgia
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