Originally published Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Family, friends celebrate the life of basketball star Harris
Tony Harris was more than just a basketball star. Though he was a hero to many who followed his career at Washington State University and...
Seattle Times staff reporter
GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
A saddened D'Nique Harris-Welch, the son of Tony Harris, is shown during the service Friday for his father. About 700 people attended the service at the River of Life Fellowship Church in Kent. A former Washington State University basketball star, Harris went on to play professionally in Brazil, where he was found dead on Nov. 18.

Tony Harris was found dead Nov. 18 in Brazil.
Tony Harris was more than just a basketball star.
Though he was a hero to many who followed his career at Washington State University and almost a household name in parts of Brazil, where he played professional basketball, the Seattle native also put his wife and teenage son before anything, says his family.
Nearly 700 people squeezed into a Kent church Friday to memorialize Harris, 36, who was found dead in Brazil last month.
His wife, Lori, and his sister-in-law, Loni Hall, remembered him as a down-to-earth family man who loved the outdoors.
"Tony told me that his two greatest accomplishments were his son and marrying me," said Lori Harris, who is due to deliver the couple's first child this month.
Hall said she idolized Harris' basketball skills and thought he was the finest man she had ever seen when he played at WSU. She said he later became her brother-in-law and her husband's best friend.
"To me, he was our family. We were together through the good times, the bad times," Hall said. "Tone's passion was not basketball, but his whole family."
Harris, a guard who played at Garfield High School, led an unlikely 1994 Cougars team to the NCAA tournament, where WSU lost in the first round to Boston College. He went on to play in Cyprus and South America. He had been a star in Brazil from 2000-05, earning Player of the Year honors and winning a championship before retiring.
He left Seattle on Oct. 31 to play ball again in Brazil to make money after being laid off from a juvenile-detention center. Harris disappeared early last month. When he last spoke with his wife on Nov. 4, he told her that he feared for his life.
Harris' body was found on Nov. 18, on what would have been his 37th birthday. He had a shoelace around his neck.
Brazilian authorities have said suicide is the most likely cause of death, but Harris' family doesn't believe he would have taken his own life.
"Many people will choose to dwell on the cause of Tony's death. I will choose to remember how he lived," Hall said.
Harris' memorial at the River of Life Fellowship Church featured a slide show, songs, remarks by friends and relatives and prayers led by Pastor Sam L. Townsend Sr., of the Greater Glory Church of God in Christ, in South Seattle.
Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
New laws help tenants evicted due to foreclosure
Researchers stunned by inmates' success raising endangered frogs
Seattle may allow homeowners to build backyard cottages
Federal Way group on trail of missing pets
Must Metro commuting at Northgate be so chaotic?

2009 fireworks time lapse
With strict parking rules enforced at this year's July 4th celebration on Wallingford Ave North, less cars and more spectators filled the streets.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
nwjobs

Post a comment

Michelle Goodman blogs about work/life balance.
Tax tips for new independent professionals
Post a comment
nwautos

Choosing a new sports car/coupe? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment
nwhomes

Find a new home or condo that fits your lifestyle.
Search New Developments
Builder Directory
- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Landmark Smith Tower mostly vacant
- Former NFL MVP McNair killed
- Russell Branyan, Mariners fight off the Red Sox
- Property taxes: Appeals shoot up in King, Snohomish Counties
- Palin takes to Web for hints of political future
- Fourth of July festivals and fireworks in Seattle, the suburbs and beyond
- Palin links resignation to 'higher calling' and blasts media in Facebook posting
- Hard times for tourist towns means good deals for travelers
- Tenn. police rule ex-QB McNair's death a homicide
- Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox: 07/05 game thread
247 - Palin links resignation to 'higher calling' and blasts media in Facebook posting
170 - Hatred for the NBA runs deep, but don't take it out on the players
135 - Tukwila residents rally against light-rail noise
122 - Former NFL MVP McNair killed
112 - Property taxes: Appeals shoot up is King, Snohomish Counties
103 - Tent City on campus: UW stalls decision
100 - Anti-tax rally in Olympia attracts about 1,500
65 - Seeking your questions
50 - Mariners did their part, now they need help
38
- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Property taxes: Appeals shoot up in King, Snohomish Counties
- Merchant Marine veterans fight for recognition
- Hard times for tourist towns means good deals for travelers
- Landmark Smith Tower mostly vacant
- Close-up | Prison guards intercept carrier pigeon with a cellphone
- Amtrak cleared for 2nd daily train to Vancouver, B.C.
- Tent City on campus: UW stalls decision
- Pre-grill drill: marinate steaks
- Concert Review | Green Day blasts off 4th weekend with KeyArena show









