Patricia S. Makris

Patricia Short Makris, 82, passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at her home in Belleville, Illinois. She was born in Sewanee, Tennessee, on May 15, 1942, to Joseph “Reece” Short and Lou Sullivan Short.

In May 1961, immediately after graduating high school, she worked for the Webb Realty Company in Miami, Florida for a short time. Then she applied for and was accepted to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I.) in Washington D.C. where she was certified in May 1962 as a “Fingerprint Examiner.”

She went on to work as a fingerprint expert at the Federal, State, and local levels. She was a member of the Rocky Mountain Division of the International Association for Identification. She directly assisted the Secret Service in the identification of John Hinkley Jr., while working at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation during the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. She was also involved in the search for suspects during the investigation of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

She was an outstanding softball player. While her husband was stationed in Puerto Rico, she was recognized as one of the best female softball batters and outfielders. She was an exceptional bowler, winning many tournaments. She played for the F.B.I.’s softball and bowling teams. She was self-taught in her vast knowledge of antiques. She appreciated, collected, and sold many beautiful antiques.

She enjoyed digging deep into her family’s genealogy. She was an author and wrote several detailed genealogy books. All her information was added to Ancestry.com to ensure its preservation. She was tracing her family line when she spotted a book on a high shelf in a library. Its author was Josephine Short, a name identical to that of her deceased sister. This book contained the missing information she needed to complete her family lineage. She always felt that divine guidance from beyond led to her fact-finding information for her books. She believed that the motivation and assistance came from relatives no longer with us. For years, she also assisted others in their family search. Several people have called her thanking her for her information which led to them finding siblings they never knew existed.

She identified inaccuracies about the area where she was born and raised, its people, and the prestigious school located there, the University of the South. This research led to her writing five history books about her hometown, Sewanee, Tennessee, in the beautiful Cumberland Mountains. She dedicated over 30 years to researching at libraries and courthouses seeking information. She also collaborated with archivists, the university’s historians Arthur Ben and Betty Chitty, and others. She identified errors in the university’s history that were corrected as a result of her assistance. Her books have been used at the University of the South to teach the freshman class local history. Her passion for writing these books was to preserve this history for future generations and are sold on Amazon.com.

She loved spending time with her family above everything else. Her favorite things to do were going on sea cruises. On one cruise she traveled with her entire family of 47 members. She enjoyed listening to oldies and classic country music. She went on several Country Music cruises with her husband and sister Thelma. She had a contagious laugh and smiled all the time. She would laugh so hard she would cry.

In 2017, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia. Her husband, Steve Makris, cared for her at their home until her passing. On the eve of her passing, she was surrounded by her family and country music. Being polite, she waited until her niece, Jenni Short, arrived from Ohio. Fifteen minutes later, she left us to join her brothers and sisters (Joseph Reece Jr., Clyde Edward, Josephine, William, Allen, and Thelma) and her parents (Reece and Lou Sullivan Short).

She is survived by her loving husband of more than 61 years, Lt Col Steve Makris USAF (Retired), her two devoted daughters, Christy (Keith) Stern and Stefanie (Christopher) Hyde; FIVE GRANDCHILDREN: Zachery (Tiffany) Stern, Kyle (Holly) Stern, Deanna Hyde, Ryan (Amanda) Hyde, and Jared Hyde. She is also survived by FOUR GREAT GRANDCHILDREN: Zane, Kennedy, Myla, and Zeke Stern.

Her viewing will be Friday, November 29, 2024, at the Lake View Funeral Home, 5000 N. Illinois Street, Fairview Heights, Illinois, between 6-8 pm. The funeral service will be at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 405 Huntwood Road, Swansea, Illinois, on Saturday, November 30, 2024, at 1:00 pm. She will be interred in the mausoleum at the Lake View Memorial Cemetery in Fairview Heights, Illinois. A “Celebration of Life” reception will be held at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church Hall. Please join us to eat food and share stories. She would like us not to be sad but to use this occasion to honor her memory.

Our family would like to thank the Hospice Association for helping us. They came every day to check on her and made sure we had all the supplies needed to keep her comfortable and pain-free to the very end. They were all very professional and caring people.

Instead of flowers, please send donations to the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute at GIVE.WVU.EDU, with a donation to the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Fund – 2R411. This group is light years ahead of other researchers in finding a treatment for Alzheimer’s.