Patricia Alleen Melton

Patricia Smith Melton, age 70, of Tallahassee, Florida, passed away Monday, November 10, 2014. She is survived by her husband of 50 years, James Howard Melton and her children, Julie Anne Melton Leftheris and husband James and Charles Edward Melton and wife Janetta; two wonderful grandchildren, Anne Demetra Leftheris and Jackson Howard Melton and her sister Mary Helen Smith Hughes. She was preceded in death by her parents, Lee Raymond Smith, Jr. and Helen Green Smith and two brothers, Lee Raymond Smith III and George Edward Smith.Pat graduated from Lake Charles High School (Louisiana) and McNeese State University in 1965. She was a member of Phi Mu Sorority. She started her career as a Budget Analyst at Singer General Precision, Silver Springs, Maryland.She relocated with husband James Howard to Tallahassee and joined the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, retiring after 35 years in 2009.She had managerial responsibilities, overseeing key Florida initiatives in the areas of Florida Crime Information Center, Uniform Crime reports, acquisition of Florida's first Automated Fingerprint Identification System and founding the Florida Missing Children Clearinghouse. As State Bureau Chief of Training, she had responsibility for all basic training for sworn law enforcement and correctional officers in Florida.She was a member of the Florida Chiefs Association, Florida Sheriff's Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, International Management Association and the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training.She served as a member of the National Institute of Justice Modeling and Simulation Workgroup and the Law Enforcement Network (LETN) Advisory Board. With her husband who retired as the President and CEO of the FSU Alumni Association, she attended 7 Orange Bowls, 6 Sugar Bowls, a Cotton Bowl, a Blockbuster Bowl and an All American Bowl. She enjoyed 2 national championships and a Super Bowl.She traveled to twenty foreign countries, visited most of the 50 states and built a log cabin in the Valley of the French Broad River in Asheville.Her pride and joy were her grandchildren - Anne Demetra and Jackson Howard. Her last dog was Zoe who remained by her side for 10 years. She looked forward to the celebration of her 50th wedding anniversary.Funeral Services will be held at 11 am on Thursday, November 13th at the Church of the Advent on Piedmont. The family will receive friends immediately after the service.Interment will be at a private service at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts may be made to Stand Up To Cancer at standup2cancer.org or the International Myeloma Foundation at myeloma.org .