In Memoriam

Howard Porter, a Ramsey County Probation Officer, died May 27th, 2007.   He was drafted 32nd overall by the Chicago Bulls in 1971, but his NBA career never fulfilled the promise he showed in college. He also played for Detroit and New York, but he began using drugs when his career flamed out.

He went to a drug treatment program at Hazelden in Center City, Minn., and decided to stay in Minnesota. He became a probation officer for Ramsey County in 1995, where he supervised adults who had been released from prison or sentenced to probation. He oversaw violent and nonviolent offenders, making sure they followed the law, as well as terms of their release.

Services have been set in three states for Howard Porter, the Ramsey County probation officer and former Villanova University basketball star who died Saturday of injuries from a beating. Services were held at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 2nd at St. James AME Church, 624 Central Av. W., St. Paul. The funeral will be preceded by a visitation at 10 a.m. at the church.  Services also will be held on June 5 at the Villanova campus church in Villanova, Pa., and on June 9 at Life Center Church in Eatonville, Fla., his home state. Porter, 58, died Saturday night at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, a week after he was found badly beaten in a north Minneapolis alley. The Hennepin County medical examiner's office said Monday that he died of multiple blunt force injuries. No arrests have been made in the case, which remains under investigation.