Patricia Jolene Lanham

Patricia Jolene Sheets Lanham, 97, passed away on March 11, 2025 at The Gables Assisted Living Facility in Palm Harbor Florida. Patricia was born on June 26, 1927 in Tonkawa, Oklahoma on the farm of her grandparents. Her grandfather Thomas Sheets acquired the farm during one of the Oklahoma land rushes in the 1880’s. Patricia was the only child of Granville Harold Sheets and Vita Marie Thompson. Granville was a pharmacist who graduated from the University of Oklahoma. He worked as manager of a pharmacy in Tulsa and later for many years as a salesman for Abbott Laboratories.

 Growing up in Tulsa and Muskogee, Oklahoma, Patricia graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1951 with a business degree and married Charles Earl Lanham of Bartlesville Oklahoma on July 4, 1952. Charles and Patricia had 3 children, Nancy (Steve) Mitchell of Big Canoe Georgia, Edward (Kathy) Lanham of Melbourne Florida, and David (Sharon) Lanham of Dunedin Florida.

 Charles, also a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, worked for several years as a bank examiner for the Treasury Department and then for several banks in Oklahoma City, Bartlesville Oklahoma, Deerfield Illinois, and Greenville Michigan before buying a small motel in Ocala Florida in 1972. Charles passed away on December 16, 1992 of cancer. Patricia remained a widow living in Ocala until she moved to Palm Harbor Florida in 2019 residing at Stratford Court independent living facility.

 At the time of her passing, Patricia is survived by her 3 children, grandchildren Scott (Mary) Medefind, James (Jayme) Medefind, Jennifer (Jeremy) Cairns, Ian (Rachel) Lanham, Stephanie Lanham, and great-grandchildren Beau Medefind, Luca Medefind, Mason Medefind, Madison Medefind, Ryleigh Cairns, Chase Cairns, and Julia Lanham.

 There will be a private memorial service at a future date to be determined. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Suncoast Hospice.