John Cornell Harris Obituary
John Cornell Harris, 84, of Monrovia, Maryland, passed from this life on Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Rockingham, VA. He is now reunited with his beloved wife, Lynne, who predeceased him in 2022 after 56 years of marriage.

 

 

Born on March 10, 1940, in Asheville, NC, John was the son of the late John Hampton and Nettie Cornell Harris. He spent most of his growing up years in Rutherfordton, North Carolina and graduated from Rutherfordton-Spindale High School in 1958. He went on to NC State University where he worked hard and graduated with his BS in Electrical Engineering in 1962. Upon graduation he moved to Washington, D.C. which was the start of an exciting adventure for this self-described “North Carolina boy” with a passion for fishing, camping, golf and tennis. Over the coming years, he would have a plane, motorcycle, and sports car and convinced Lynne (who did not have a passion for fishing, camping, or sports) to marry him in July 1966.

 

John loved engineering, math, and solving hard technical problems throughout his life. After college, he went to work on the rocket program at NASA which was fascinating and rewarding for him. After several years there, he went to work for IBM and Xerox launching new computer technology. During this time, he also completed his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) at American University. He then shifted to Hewlett Packard in their microchip sales division where he worked with clients on technical solutions to their business problems. At HP, John won the top salesman award for the entire company in 1978. Intel then lured him away for their technical design and sales program where he and his team won numerous awards for top sales and contributions to the Multibus program and microchip designs. In addition, he co-founded a smaller engineering firm and taught continuing education classes at Johns Hopkins.

 

John is survived by his children, Laura (Bruce) Albertson and John (Leslie) Harris and grandchildren, Bryan, Kyle, and Owen Albertson and Anna and James Harris. John loved his wife and children, but would drop everything to spend time with his grandchildren. He was always ready to camp, fish, canoe, travel, ride roller coasters, and also teach life lessons in math and finance which often occurred at the closest Waffle House. John also cherished his many lifelong special friends from high school, college, work, and golf. A special thank you to Marvin and Jackie Anthony and George and Mary Jones for their love and support over the past three months and the many trips, celebrations and laughs they shared with John and Lynne over the past 50 years.

 

A celebration of John’s life journey will take place at Montgomery United Methodist Church at 28325 Kemptown Road, Damascus, MD on Saturday, August 17, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. followed by time for all to connect with the family. Pastor Andy McClain will officiate. Interment will be private.