Carmen Monte

Carmen Monte

July 18, 1928 - August 9, 2025

Santa Maria - Carmen Monte of Santa Maria passed from his earthly life at his home in Santa Maria on August 9, 2025. He passed peacefully, of natural causes, in his sleep.

Monte, as he was called by everyone who knew him, is survived by 5 sons and 1 daughter, 20 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren and counting. He was preceded in death by the love of his life, Mary Ruth (Brent) Monte originally from Topeka, Kansas whom he married on Thanksgiving Day in 1949.

Monte was a Korean War veteran serving with distinction as a Communications Squad leader and also as a radio operator aboard a B-29 Bomber in the US Army Air Corps, soon to become the US Air Force.

Upon returning from Korea, Monte was on the crew that installed the original telephone system at the University of Kansas. When that job was complete, he welded support systems for overpasses on the Kansas Turnpike. He became a Reserve Deputy with the Shawnee County Sheriff's Department in Topeka which soon turned into a full-time position. In 1959, he made one of the best decisions of his life and decided to move the family, which had now grown to six, to California when he was offered a job with RCA at Vandenberg, AFB wiring the infrastructure for the missile launch pads. That job lasted less than two years, but he was only laid off over the weekend before he was hired by ITT-Kellogg to continue the process, but in more of a supervisory role and eventually as a Senior Manager. He retired from ITT which had morphed into FEC after 24 years of service. He then spent 9 years as a Management Analyst with Aerospace Corporation. He retired again when the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up and plans were scrapped to launch Discovery from Vandenberg.

After so many years in the workforce, he couldn't see himself doing nothing so he volunteered with the California Spaceport Authority and the Area Agency on Aging where he developed the initial database for Senior Services throughout Santa Barbara County. That work earned him a commendation and State award for volunteers.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 AM on September 27, 2025 at Providence Landing Clubhouse in Vandenberg Village.

In his own words, from an autobiographical writing, "In summation I can truly say, somebody up there must really like me, for my entire life has been truly blessed."