Oliver Ames Harte

Oliver Ames Harte, 78, passed away October 31, 2007 resulting from a long battle with Parkinson’s disease and Spino-Cerebella Ataxia. A Celebration of Life service will be held 10:00 AM, Monday, November 5, 2007, with Msgr Eugene Sears officiating at Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. Entombment will follow in North Shore Memory Gardens. Visitation is from 5:00 – 7:00 PM, Sunday, at the funeral home. Memorials donations may be made to Hospice at Home, the Readiness Center or the Humane Society. Friends wishing to send a condolence message online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com Ollie was born May 7, 1929 in Brookline, Massachusetts to Richard and Mabel (Webster) Harte, Sr. He attended the Foreman School and graduated from Nichols College with a BA in business administration. After graduating from college, he served in the Army Reserve and worked at the family owned Ames Shovel Factory in Parkersburg, WV. Factory work was tedious, hot and dirty so upon some encouragement from a friend he moved to a beautiful town called St. Joseph in Michigan. Here he met and married Susan LeRoy Anderson. They were blessed with seven sons. In 1963, he and his partner A.J. McDanold started a data processing company called Statistical Business Service (SBS). This was a novel idea for the times. Computers were in the infancy state of development and were too large and expensive to maintain. Many large corporations and small local companies may remember utilizing the services of SBS, Inc. Eventually, the company merged with United Data Centers which then was bought by Tymshare, Inc. His other business venture with A.J. McDanold included a botanical garden in Kailua, Kona, Hawaii called Kona Gardens. In 1978, he married his current wife Barbara and they persevered in raising a blended family of nine wonderful children. The 80’s brought him into a partnership with Robert L. Dearing, Jr. and Microfax, Inc. was developed. Throughout his life Ollie enjoyed many hobbies and sports. He was a race car enthusiast and loved sailing, skiing, golf, travel and photography. The highlight of most mornings was coffee with the breakfast boys at Stooges. He is survived and will be forever missed by his wife Barbara Spencer Harte, his sons Jeffery A.(Paulette) Harte, David Harte, Phillip A. (Laurie) Harte, Theodore R. Harte, William C. (Elaine) Harte, Johnathan S. Harte, Patrick N. (Aubrey) Harte, his brother Richard (Jane) Harte Jr., his sister Jane Harte Choate (Thomas), nieces, Jane Choate Beck (Horace), Catherine Choate De Chagal (Guy), Dr. Edith Harte (Dr. Karl Matlin), Suzanne Harte Sears (Philip), Winifred Harte (Rob Siedenberg), Alison Harte (Jack Miniter), nephew, Richard W. Harte (Jane), Great nieces and nephews, Gabriel A. Matlin, Nicholas H. Matlin, Nolans S. Harte, Matthew W. Sears, Alexander H. Sears, J. Cory Miniter, Robin K . Miniter, Richard Ian Miniter, Kshanika Miniter. Poppie will be greatly missed by his grandchildren Alissa M. Harte, Ayden Harte, Brody Harte, Spencer A. Siegel, Laura C. Starks and Olivia K. Starks. He will be remembered by Susan, Devin and Carmen Beeney. He was preceded in death by his first wife Susan LeRoy Harte, his sister Nancy Harte Fitz and two step-daughters Tracey Spencer Starks and Laura Spencer.