Jack Randolph Harrell, Jr.

Jack Randolph Harrell, Jr. died July 13, 2024, at his home in Lakeland, Florida, following a brief battle with Glioblastoma. He was 68 years old and passed away six months following his diagnosis.

He was born June 3, 1956, in Lakeland, the son of Jack Randolph Harrell and Norma Barwick Harrell. He was the oldest of four children.

Jack graduated in 1978 from Georgia Southern College, with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. Following graduation, he returned to Lakeland to join his father’s business, which at that time consisted of Harrell’s Feed Store in downtown, and multiple Harrell’s Garden Centers in Lakeland and in the St. Petersburg-Clearwater area.

While traveling back to Georgia to visit college friends in 1982, he met Tina Webb, from Wrightsville, Georgia. Jack and Tina were married the following year and celebrated their 41st Anniversary this past February 5th.

Jack worked alongside his father to grow and transform Harrell’s from a local, retail-based company into a worldwide industry-leading producer and distributor of customized agronomic solutions. Their initial step was construction of the company’s first fertilizer manufacturing plant. This facility opened in Lakeland in 1985.

As company leadership transitioned from father to son, and with Jack as CEO, Harrell’s began an unprecedented era of expansion, mergers, and acquisitions, growing the company into what is now the nation’s largest producer of custom-blended fertilizers and distributor of chemicals for golf courses, lawn care, greenhouses, nurseries, and specialty agriculture.

At the time of his death, Jack still served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Harrell’s, with locations across America, from Florida to Washington state, and from New England to Southern California, yet serving customers around the globe.

As leader of a now employee-owned and industry-admired company, Jack was the primary author of the organization’s longstanding core values, whose origin reflect the guidance of multiple generations of Harrell’s family – to Serve, Honor and Glorify God, to Take Care of People, and to Grow the Company’s Financial Strength. These standards were much more than company maxims, as Jack lived them out remarkably in his personal life.

Jack’s business acumen and industry involvement was recognized with multiple honors, including the Wreath of Grass Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Florida Turfgrass Association, for outstanding service to the turfgrass industry, and the Marie Roberts Lifetime Service Award, presented by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America for his significant achievements to the industry. Jack was also inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame, for being a visionary and to celebrate his leadership, accomplishments, and service.

His profound impact in this world spanned much more than his business achievements, yet his company’s success was the catalyst for his ability to bless countless charitable organizations and individuals within his community. Jack was renowned for his investment in people through transformational generosity, and he realized that his giving was able to drastically improve lives. He was strategic and intentional in meeting philanthropic needs.

Jack’s wisdom was sought, respected, and deeply valued, as he served on many Boards throughout his life. His most recent service included the Lakeland Regional Health Board of Governors, Chairman of the Bonnet Springs Park Board of Directors, and the Parker Street Ministries Advisory Board.

His active community engagement was also recognized with various honors, including being named Advocate of the Year and, along with his wife, Tina, Philanthropists of the Year by Lakeland Regional Health, and he received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Greater Tampa Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, for representing the values of scouting through service to his community.

Jack was a member of Christ Community Presbyterian Church, Long Palm Golf Club, Grasslands Golf and Country Club, and The Cliffs at Keowee Falls.

As a former Lakeland High School football letterman, he enjoyed Dreadnaught athletics, and he was a faithful fan of the Florida Gators. Jack also relished spending time at his additional home on Lake Keowee in South Carolina. He loved playing golf with his sons and friends, and he and Tina traveled extensively, both domestically and abroad.

Jack loved fine dining at his favorite restaurants, and had a vast wine collection, learning the history of and all the details of his many varieties. Jack was also a collector of fine watches. In addition, he enjoyed outdoor cooking. A significant part of his full and busy life was the prioritization of time with his grandsons. He cherished the moments he would spend with them.

He had a lifelong love of music. As a child and teenager, Jack insisted on falling asleep to loud music on his a.m. radio or turntable, and still enjoyed attending concerts of his favorite Rock bands and performers from the 1970s. He possessed a considerable album collection.

He will be indelibly marked by his uncanny memory of details, especially names, dates, facts, and figures. Even in his final days when he was speaking very little, Jack would utter a missing name or fact when surrounding family members were in conversation and not even certain he was listening. His recall will be sorely missed by all who counted on him to fill in the blanks. He could also analyze a financial document in seconds.

Jack was known for his open-hearted generosity, intricate story-telling, his humor, attentiveness, resolve, drive, decisiveness, and for being a visionary. He was caring, confident, forthright, honest, genuine, sincere, and sociable. His internal, moral compass was guided daily by his enduring faith in Christ.

Jack was predeceased by his parents, Jack and Norma, and by both sets of grandparents, including grandfather Ormond Harrell, the founder and namesake of Jack’s company. He was also predeceased by his brother-in-law, Ted Strawbridge. He is survived by his wife, Tina, and by his sons Jack Harrell, III and Will Harrell, and his wife, Julia, of Lakeland; and by his three grandsons, Holton, Wells, and John Owen Harrell, of Lakeland. He’s also survived by his sister, Susie Wilson, and her husband, Steve, of Gatlinburg, Tennessee; his sister, Mary Lu Strawbridge, of Lookout Mountain, Georgia; and his brother, Fred Harrell, and his wife, Terely, of San Francisco, California. Jack is further survived by many nieces and nephews, to whom he was known as Uncle Bubba, and by cousins and other relatives. The family is exceedingly grateful for Dr. Francisco Chebly, of Lakeland Regional Health, Jack’s personal physician and friend, who coordinated his care throughout this journey.

A Celebration of Life service will be held Saturday, July 20, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at Victory Church, 1401 Griffin Road, Lakeland, Florida, with the Reverend Lyle Caswell, Senior Pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church, presiding.

Memorials may be provided to Parker Street Ministries, https://psmlakeland.org/; Bonnet Springs Park, https://bonnetspringspark.com ; or Lakeland Regional Health, https://www.mylrh.org/.