Joel S. Harnick

Joel Saul Harnick passed away peacefully at 84 years old on April 23, 2026, surrounded by his wife Tess, daughter Jodi and son Matt, after a long and tough battle with Alzheimer's. He will be lovingly remembered by his daughter in law Jane, his son in law Jon, his four grandchildren Alexa, Josh, Brooke, and Danny - in addition to the countless friends, family and others who knew and loved him.

There’s so much to say about a man who lived such a full life, wearing many hats - from selling chickens and eggs in Philadelphia to put himself through college, to joining the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations and then Housing and Urban Development - as a litigator to bring those who practiced discrimination to justice - to teaching about civil rights around the country as an accredited instructor for real estate agents and the associations they belong to - and finally leaving it all behind to start an almost 40 year career as a real estate investor. Of the most successful variety.

He was the kindest soul. Everywhere we went people gravitated to him. He could talk to anyone - and he usually did. Costa Rica, fishing, and real estate were his favorite topics. He was also an incredible idea guy - constantly inventing things to make his life easier, or to just have fun in the process…often mass producing his inventions to share them with others.

Mostly though he was perfectly content sitting with us and with friends on the deck in Beach Haven at "Poppy's Beach House" with a bourbon and occasionally a cigar - just talking into the night. Stories which captivated us - inspired us, and sometimes just laughing his head off at the most random things, causing us to do the same. He loved his family fiercely - more than anything. And we knew it.

He was all in on some incredible passions like fishing, flipping homes, owning rental properties, cars, Long Beach Island, woodworking, music, dogs, and our Philadelphia Eagles to name just a few. We couldn’t have asked for or even imagined a more amazing man to have shared our lives with. We miss him terribly and we each have a huge hole in our hearts right now.

The Memorial Service will be held Sunday, April 26, 9:30AM at Goldsteins’ Rosenberg’s Suburban North, 310 2nd Street Pike, Southampton, PA 18966. Shiva following the service will be located at The 501 At Mattison Estate. The address is 501 Mattison Ave, Ambler, PA 19002. We hope you'll join us. Shiva will continue at the Waxman residence on Tuesday, April 28, from 12:00-3:00 PM and 6:30-8:30 PM, and on Wednesday, April 29, from 6:30-8:30 PM.   

For all those of you who knew and loved him for so long - thank you so much for all your kind words and for helping our family grieve this unimaginable loss. Each text, voicemail, social media comment and phone call is being read and shared amongst us.

If you’d like to honor Joel please consider donating to one of these three charities which were important to him and are meaningful for our family:

Alzheimer’s research: https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2?64091.donation=form1 

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center: https://pro.gofundme.com/give/498837/ 

The Montgomery County SPCA: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/montgomerycountyspca