Stumpy Harris - RIP

Jun 2, 2015
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I just received some sad news that Stumpy Harris passed away. I graduated from high school @ Robert E. Lee in Jax w/Stumpy and this year we had tentatively planned our 65th high school reunion. He was a devoted Gator fan & we always teased him about wearing Gator gear to any and ALL functions. He had gator glasses, cuff links, ties, shirts, pants, shoes and fleet of Gator vehicles and even let this Cane fan try on one of his NC Gator rings. In addition, he was a great guy, great attorney, loving husband and father. My heart goes out to his Wife, Ruthie & children. Gator Nation has sadly lost one of their biggest fans. May he rest in peace.
 

5-Star Finger

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My baby brother's graduation photo was taken in front of the 1996 National Title statue he helped fund.

Sad day.
 

Double Gator Dad

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Truly a sad day. We lost a great gator.

He is at peace now.
 

Theologator

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Sad news indeed. I remember at my very first Gator game, Stumpy had a big sedan with big speakers mounted on the roof and he would drive around the stadium and parking areas blasting recordings of the Gator Band playing the fight song etc.

He was part of a core group of young lawyers that laid the foundations of Holland & Knight in Bartow back in the 60’s and lived catty-corner across the street from us. Our families lost touch over the years, but Stumpy and his ex-wife Dottie were godparents to my little sister. God bless and keep him.
 

AlexDaGator

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I just received some sad news that Stumpy Harris passed away. I graduated from high school @ Robert E. Lee in Jax w/Stumpy and this year we had tentatively planned our 65th high school reunion. He was a devoted Gator fan & we always teased him about wearing Gator gear to any and ALL functions. He had gator glasses, cuff links, ties, shirts, pants, shoes and fleet of Gator vehicles and even let this Cane fan try on one of his NC Gator rings. In addition, he was a great guy, great attorney, loving husband and father. My heart goes out to his Wife, Ruthie & children. Gator Nation has sadly lost one of their biggest fans. May he rest in peace.

Stumpy says he got the nickname because he was a tough little defensive lineman in high school and moving him was as hard a pulling a stump.

I assumed it was because of his diminutive size.

What do you think?


Alex.
 

Theologator

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Stumpy says he got the nickname because he was a tough little defensive lineman in high school and moving him was as hard a pulling a stump.

I assumed it was because of his diminutive size.

What do you think?


Alex.

The latter. But I hope Daytona answers!
 
Jun 2, 2015
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The latter. But I hope Daytona answers!


I, too, always thought it was due to his size, however, I asked a couple of guys from our class who played football with Stumpy and they didn't remember anything about Stumpy's reference to being hard to move as a stump. Maybe this was just a bit of embellishment on Stumpy's part.?? He was, however, a tough player who was well respected and never let his size get in his way. Also I can't totally confirm but I was told years ago that when Stumpy was young, a woman accelerated her car and pinned him against a wall which subsequently stunted the growth of his legs.
 

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We went to a game without tickets. We stayed in a nice hotel and I tried everything I could to score tickets. No luck. As we were driving trying to figure out what to do next , Ellen said I I've got this. I would never tell her she couldn't do something because then she would do it. So I told her she had no chance. She spotted another upscale hotel and said pull over. I'll be back in ten minutes. Out she comes with three tickets. Of course, as always, she has a new best friend in tow. She continues to chat with him. He asks how often we go to the games. I answer, all the time.

Then I make my big mistake and say this is the first time for my son. (He was twelve). Ellen's new best friend was Stumpy. Stumpy says, twelve and he's never been to a game? He looks at me like I'm Darth Vader and shakes his head. I did not make a good first impression. Thank God for Ellen. Stumpy wouldn't take a dime for the tickets. I spent hours failing she spent ten minutes.
 

BNAG8R

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We went to a game without tickets. We stayed in a nice hotel and I tried everything I could to score tickets. No luck. As we were driving trying to figure out what to do next , Ellen said I I've got this. I would never tell her she couldn't do something because then she would do it. So I told her she had no chance. She spotted another upscale hotel and said pull over. I'll be back in ten minutes. Out she comes with three tickets. Of course, as always, she has a new best friend in tow. She continues to chat with him. He asks how often we go to the games. I answer, all the time.

Then I make my big mistake and say this is the first time for my son. (He was twelve). Ellen's new best friend was Stumpy. Stumpy says, twelve and he's never been to a game? He looks at me like I'm Darth Vader and shakes his head. I did not make a good first impression. Thank God for Ellen. Stumpy wouldn't take a dime for the tickets. I spent hours failing she spent ten minutes.

I’m truly sorry I never met Ellen. I can tell I would have immediately liked her.

You? Jury’s still out... ;)
 

aka

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Stumpy says he got the nickname because he was a tough little defensive lineman in high school and moving him was as hard a pulling a stump.

I assumed it was because of his diminutive size.

What do you think?


Alex.

URG, you know?
 

alcoholica

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Is @AlexDaGator going to step up and defend our pot head football players in Stumpy's absence?
 

AlexDaGator

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Is @AlexDaGator going to step up and defend our pot head football players in Stumpy's absence?

You're thinking of Huntley Johnson, not Stumpy Harris.

Huntley was the criminal defense attorney that represented all of Urban's wayward boys. Haven't hear his name in a long time.

Stumpy didn't do criminal work. He did a lot of eminent domain stuff but his biggest asset was his "rolodex" (I put that in quotes because nobody actually has a rolodex anymore). Stumpy knew everybody. Often times, legal work is more about relationships than anything else and Stumpy was a master at the relationship business.

Alex.
 

g8tr76

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Only met him a couple of times but I was always impressed with his .paraphernalia. I think he even had a 1950's Gator MG TD-1500 Roadster. If he owned it and it didn't move too fast to personalize it, it became Gatorized! I know he shed his life's blood for the Gators; Rest in Peace.
 

FlyingGator

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Only met him a couple of times but I was always impressed with his .paraphernalia. I think he even had a 1950's Gator MG TD-1500 Roadster. If he owned it and it didn't move too fast to personalize it, it became Gatorized! I know he shed his life's blood for the Gators; Rest in Peace.

You always knew you were following Stumpy home from a game going down I-75..no mistaking the truck and trailer he pulled behind it. I met him a few times over the years and he was always ready to talk Gators.

Speaking of his Gator paraphernalia, I bought tickets from him for the Gator Bowl between UF-OSU years ago. He wasn’t in the office when I went to pick up the tickets but his secretary insisted I come in his office and see his Gator collection. Really unbelievable overall, with the most impressive being his Gator skin paneling on his walls.

As an aside, the tickets were really good as well. We are Sitting in Club Level, 50 yard line, about halfway up. My youngest is bored (he was 6 at the time) and has kicked the seat in front of us a few times so I sent his Mom and he down into the Club area. I apologize to the gray haired gentleman in front of me and he says don’t worry about it. We strike up a conversation about our careers and find out we were both Air Force vets. He finds out I’m a pilot and he tells me he has a corporate jet and if I ever wanted to fly for him let me know. I’m thinking it’s doubtful he could ever match my salary as a wide body Captain at a major carrier but I ask him what he does and he mentions he owns a few Stonewood Grills. At that point I realize we hadn’t introduced ourselves so I give him my name and he responds with “Nice to meet you, I’m Gale Lemerand.” My mouth drops and I say “Like Gale Lemerand Drive, Gale Lemerand?”, to which he replies “The one and only!” I laugh and say “Stumpy said these were good seats, now I know how good they really are!” We spoke a while longer after that, mostly about Meyer and his reasons for leaving. He was much more gracious than me about that subject as he had a personal friendship with him and gave him the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, RIP Stumpy..both he and Gale will always be Great Gators..
 

alcoholica

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You're thinking of Huntley Johnson, not Stumpy Harris.

Huntley was the criminal defense attorney that represented all of Urban's wayward boys. Haven't hear his name in a long time.

Stumpy didn't do criminal work. He did a lot of eminent domain stuff but his biggest asset was his "rolodex" (I put that in quotes because nobody actually has a rolodex anymore). Stumpy knew everybody. Often times, legal work is more about relationships than anything else and Stumpy was a master at the relationship business.

Alex.
Yep, I fuched that up.
 

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