John w. Convertino, 55, passed away peacefully in his home in Tallahassee on Thursday, March 26, 2009 after a courageous and valiant battle against mesothelioma.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, March 29, 2009 at 2:00 PM, EDT, at the reflection pool at Maclay Gardens State Park.. The family will receive friends following the service at the home of Chris and Pat Gosen at 1459 Spruce Ave. Tallahassee, FL 32303. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation P.O. Box 91840 Santa Barbara, CA 93190-1840 or the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Development at P.O. Box 27106 New York, New York 10087-7106. Bevis Funeral Home is handling arrangements(850-385-2193).

John was born February ll, 1954 in Endicott, New York. He attended the State University of New York, Brockport and received a BS degree in 1976. He later received a

Master's degree in Social Work (MSW) from Florida State

University in 1979. John was employed by Apalachee Center,

Inc. for over twenty-seven years as the Chief Administrative Officer.

John was a warm, caring, witty, devoted husband, father and friend. He loved family, friends, travel, movies, fine dining, FSU and New York sports teams, and most especially, his devoted and beloved wife, Patty, and his loving son, Christopher. He was highly esteemed by his co-workers at Apalachee Center. He will be greatly

missed and never forgotten.

John is survivied by his wife, Patricia (Patty) Convertino of Tallahassee; his son, Christopher Convertino of Taiwan; his parents, John and Anne Marie Convertino of Endicott, New York; his brother, Michael Convertino, of Los Angeles, CA; his brother and his sister-in-law, Bobby and Liz Convertino; a neice, Isabella Convertino and nephew, Keifer Convertino, all of Garrison, NY.; numerous family in Michigan; and dear friends Chris and Pat Gosen of Tallahassee.