An outstanding All-City performer, Jack played on Stivers basketball teams that were ranked among Ohio’s best. A six-foot-three, left handed forward who excelled at rebounding and scoring, Harner’s tough play personified what made Stivers basketball of the 50’s so highly acclaimed. During his four years, Stivers won two city championships and one district title, and were city runners-up twice.
At Wilmington College, Jack set sixteen school records and was the greatest basketball player in Quaker history. There he started every game for four years, scoring 1775 points, and was team MVP three years. He was All Mid-Ohio three years, All Ohio, and Honorable Mention Little All-American. His four-year numbers were 21.9 points per game, 15.8 rebounds per game and 79% free throw average. His incredible numbers and play led to the retiring of his number 32, the first such honor in Wilmington College history, crowning an unmatched career. Jack was
inducted into the first Wilmington College Athletic Hall of Fame. The Tiger from Buckeye Street and Emerson School had shown how the game should be played.
After college Jack taught and coached basketball at Stebbins High School for six years. He then spent the next twenty years plus with Dayton City Schools. Now retired, he lives in Miamisburg.
Jack’s wife, the former Nancy Lewis, Stivers’55, is deceased. He has two children, a son Joel and a daughter Amy Merlin, and two granddaughters, Emma and Elizabeth.
