Founding president, captain, historian, and standard-bearer of Harlequins rugby.
The Milwaukee Barbarians Rugby Club mourns the passing of Joe McCook, a founder, captain, Hall of Famer, and one of the defining figures in the history of the Milwaukee West Side Harlequins. Joe died peacefully, surrounded by his sons.
Born in Marlboro, Massachusetts, on November 16, 1951, Joe “Big Buddy” McCook was one of twelve children in a proud Irish Catholic family. He carried that background with him throughout his life: loyal, hard-nosed, funny, stubborn in the best ways, and deeply devoted to family, friends, and teammates. He was the father of seven children, and he brought the same intensity, care, and commitment to his family that he brought to everything he did.
In High School, Joe was a talented linebacker. He moved to Milwaukee in 1968 to attend Marquette University, and thus began his rugby career. Playing the sport there from 1972 to 1975, Joe famously followed what many men of his generation called the “six-year program.” It was at Marquette that Joe found the game that would shape much of his life, and where he built the relationships that would eventually help launch a new rugby club on Milwaukee’s west side.
After graduating with a degree in political science 1975, Joe co-founded the Milwaukee West Side Harlequins with Joe Hegarty. Together, they recruited a core of fellow Marquette alumni, including Dan Jones, Al Japely, Frank Fantazzi, Gabriel Landazuri, Max McGee and Chuck Coakley. From that group came the foundation of a club that would grow, endure, and eventually become part of the Milwaukee Barbarians Rugby Club.
Joe served as the Harlequins’ first president and captained the side from 1975 through 1982. In those formative years, he was not simply an officer or a name in the records. He was the standard.
On the pitch, Joe was intimidating: big, strong, fit, and intensely physical. He played fast and hard, attacking relentlessly and demanding the same commitment from those around him. From 1975 to 1987, he helped define the Harlequins’ identity through the force of his play. He set a tone of toughness, courage, and forward momentum that shaped the club for generations.
Those who played with him remember a man who led less by speeches than by example. Joe embodied an unspoken motto: forward ever, backwards never. He believed in participation, in caring about one another, in keeping things simple, and in having fun. For Joe, rugby was not just about winning collisions. It was about building a team, a community, and a culture that could last.
The Harlequins recognized him many times for his contributions. Joe was named Forward of the Year four consecutive times, from 1975 through 1978, and was honored as Rugger of the Year in 1976. Those awards reflected what everyone around the club already knew: Joe McCook was one of the men who made the Harlequins what they were.
Joe was also part of the Harlequins’ first international tour in 1977, traveling to Ireland and Wales. On that tour, he played a central role in the club’s famous 11–8 victory over Presentation RFC, a skilled Irish side featuring Irish international Gerry McLoughlin. The match was played at the famous Garryowen pitch, and remains one of the great early moments in Harlequins history. Joe later toured again with the club in 1980 and 1989.
His rugby résumé extended well beyond the Harlequins. In 1987, Joe won a National Championship with Milwaukee RFC. He also earned numerous caps with the Wisconsin and Midwest All Stars, reflecting the high regard in which he was held across the region.
Among his representative honors was a starting spot for the famed Midwest All Stars match against the Springboks in 1981 at Roosevelt Park in Racine, Wisconsin. The match drew national media attention amid anti-apartheid protests and remains one of the most historically significant rugby events ever played in Wisconsin. In 1983, Joe also featured for the Midwest against the Italian rugby union at McKinley Marina in Milwaukee.
After his playing days, Joe continued giving back to the game. He coached collegiate rugby at his alma mater, Marquette University, from 1989 to 1991, and later coached both high school rugby and American football in Wauwatosa. His lessons were always rooted in the same values he had lived as a player: play hard, support your teammates, keep moving forward, and never make the game more complicated than it needs to be.
Joe was also one of the club’s great keepers of memory. In the late 1970s, he wrote for the Harlequins yearbooks, helping preserve the stories, personalities, and traditions of the young club. In later years, he continued to pass that oral history to new generations of players who wanted to understand where the club came from and what it stood for.
When the club created its official history in 2023, Joe was a critical resource. He remembered the names, the matches, the tours, the arguments, the laughter, and the details that do not always make it into official records. He helped ensure that the club’s earliest years were not lost.
At the club’s 50th anniversary gala in 2025, Joe delivered a remarkable speech on the history of the Harlequins. It was a fitting moment: one of the club’s founders, standing before generations of players, reminding everyone that the club was built not only on rugby, but on friendship, participation, loyalty, and the willingness to keep showing up for one another.
In 2009, Joe was inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame, a permanent recognition of his place among the club’s most important figures.
Joe McCook was a founder, a captain, a champion, a historian, and a force of nature. He was one of the men who gave the Harlequins their edge, their toughness, and their soul. His fingerprints are on the club’s earliest years, and his influence remains in the players, coaches, families, and friends who continue to carry the club forward.
Rest easy, Joe. You were one of the originals. Forward ever, backwards never.
All are welcome to attend Joe’s visitation on Friday, May 29 — 10AM to 12PM — at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, 3201 S. 51st St., Milwaukee, WI 53219. Funeral service at noon, followed by burial and luncheon to follow.
