Joe A. Harter

1947 - 2025

Joe A. Harter

February 11, 1947 - February 15, 2025

Fairway, Kansas - Joe Harter was a man of many interests. He kept a running list of his top 100 movies of all time, often scrawled on yellow legal pads with green Flair pens. These pads littered his desk, along with legal briefs, various newspapers, The Art of Hitting by Tony Gwynn and possibly an annotated, dog-eared guide to landscaping. He kept an organized CD collection, of primarily 70s rock, long after most people turned to streaming. Surrounded by these things, he passed away on February 15, 2025 from pulmonary fibrosis. He spent his final days at home with the people he loved, and listening to his favorite music, including at the very end, Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Joe was an attorney specializing in real estate, tax and business transactions for over 50 years. He started his career at Linde Thomson but spent over 35 years as a partner at McDowell, Rice, Smith & Buchanan where he retired only a year before his passing. Joe loved the law, his partners and his clients. He took great pride in his work as an attorney but at the end of the day, Joe's true passion was his family and of course, baseball. Joe is survived by his wife of 36 years, Melanie Mann, their two sons, Jackson and Harrison, and his daughter Jessica (Mark) from a previous marriage to Sally Harter. He was also the proud grandfather to Jessica's five children.

Joe loved all Kansas City sports teams and Men's KU Basketball but none more so than his own sons' youth baseball teams which he coached to varying degrees of success. Some may even remember his own not-so-widely circulated manual, Harter on Hitting. Everyone who knew Joe commented on his intelligence, his dry sense of humor and when he was really interested, his knack for a good conversation. We will miss his sharp wit, his classic style, his subtle approving smirk and his endless stash of candy, especially the Good & Plentys.

A Celebration of Life will be held at The Village Presbyterian Church, 6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village, KS at 1:00 p.m. on March 22, 2025 with a reception at Indian Hills Country Club directly to follow. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, please send donations to the 3 & 2 Baseball Barbosa Adopt A Player Fund-https://www.3and2baseball.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1178876 or the Midwest Innocence Project-https://themip.org/.