Monte Glen Harris

Monte Glen Harris, 83, of Plainfield, reached the heavenly abode on Saturday, October 7th, 2023. He was born September 1st, 1940 in Roseville, California to his parents Glen Eldridge and Lori (Wilson) Harris.

Monte is survived by his wife, Sukanya "Suki" (Raman) Harris of Plainfield; adopted daughter, Michelle Smothers of Arkansas; step-daughter, Ash Stanley of Avon; sister, Lois Glackin of California; nephew, Michael Shanahan (Christen) of California; niece, Lorrie Blevins of California, and several other nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by both parents; his two sisters: Norma Hunter and Margie Shanahan (Jim) and his brothers, Joseph and Bert Harris.

Monte was a 1958 graduate of Roseville High School in Roseville, CA, where he held the position of Student Body President. He later joined the United States Army and received the Good Conduct Medal for his service. He was discharged honorably in 1962.

After college, Monte started his career with the US Air Force Logistics Command as a programmer/analyst and spear-headed the development and deployment of many new technologies that would benefit the armed services including bringing the projects live in the Autodin network, which was one of the predecessors to the internet. In partnership with the Kroger supermarket chain and RCA, he was selected as one of the seven program analysts to develop the first laser barcode scanning system for the supermarket and grocery industry. He was responsible for the design of the checkout station, performing validation and verification tests and completed the successful installation of the very first scanning system in the grocery industry. This technology was then adapted by other retail industries and is now the standard across the globe.

Monte's technical acumen and ability to develop products and optimize operations in the retail, payment and software development industries provided him a unique opportunity to pioneer, lead collaborative teams and build/run successful companies across the USA, Canada, UK, Europe, India and Australia. He held a variety of senior-leadership roles including Chairman and Managing Director of Verifone, India and was responsible for building the Verifone Technology Park and for growing the company with less than 100 engineers to over 400 engineers as part of the early IT revolution in India. Monte held the position of Senior Vice-President Global Software Engineering for eFunds Corporation now known as Fidelity Information Services where he successfully led 900 Software development engineers and managed an annual budget of 40 million USD. Monte was also the Founder, Managing Director and Chief Information Officer of his startup company formally known as OGS Paylab (now PayTabs) where he pioneered the development of a software/appliance solution that was deployable in any section of the Payment ecosystem thereby making financial transactions safer.

He was an effective, courageous and a natural leader that was able to bring people together to achieve any goal that lay before him. As part of his storied career, he remained a mentor to many of the employees that worked for him. Through his generous spirit, he led a life of service to his country and to those around him. Monte transformed the lives of a wide-variety of people that came from all walks of life. His boundless generosity, adventurous and indomitable spirit remained his characteristic trait.

Monte attended Faith Baptist Church in Danville, IN. He enjoyed golfing, watching football, traveling, gardening, learning new cultures and trying new foods. He leaves behind a big void that can never be filled but we can all strive to be as generous as he was.

A private visitation will be held at Jones Family Mortuary in Mooresville, Indiana. Burial with military honors will be held at Danville National Cemetery in Danville, IL.

To send a condolence to the family or to share a story about Monte, please visit: www.jonesfamilymortuary.com