Melina Le Duc

Col. Melina Marzocchi Le Duc, 89, of Lake City, Florida, passed away at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on August 7, 2017 after a two- year battle with lung cancer. Born in North Providence, RI on January 8, 1928 to Felicetta (Fera) and Vincenzo Marzocchi, Melina was a 1948 graduate of the US Cadet Nurse Corps. In 1973 she was awarded a B.S. in Nursing with honors from Hunter College in New York, and she later earned a Master of Science degree in Nursing. She served as a reserve officer in The Army Nurse Corps and worked as a nurse in several VA Hospitals over the course of her distinguished career. She retired in Lake City, Florida after serving as operating room supervisor at the Lake City VA Hospital. Although retired from the Veterans Administration, she continued her service in the Army Reserve. During the Gulf War from 1990 to 1991, she was deployed with the 386th Medical Detachment in Operation Desert Shield-Desert Storm. After returning from combat service in the Gulf War, she continued her military service at Fort Benning, and later at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC, and eventually retired from the Army. She was an active member of the Special Military Active-Retired Travel Club (SMART) and the Suwannee River Valley Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). She will be remembered as a compassionate person, a high achiever, and a person whose faith in God was strong. She was an inspiration to everyone who knew her. Col. Le Duc is survived by her devoted son, Mark Lutz, and her loving nieces and nephews; JoAnn Marzocchi Phillips, Angelo Marzocchi Jr., Karl Marzocchi, Sandra Marzocchi, and Vincent Marzocchi Jr. of Rhode Island, Alfred Marzocchi Jr. and Michael Marzocchi of Florida, Barbara Wagner and Christine Utterback of Oregon, John Marzocchi of Ohio, and CarolAnn Scandariato of Connecticut. She adored her twenty-two great-nieces and -nephews and fourteen great-great-nieces and -nephews.

Viewing will be at the Money and King Funeral Home on Sunday, August 20, from 2:00 to 4:00, 171 Maple Avenue W, Vienna VA 22180. There will also be a Memorial Mass in her memory on Sunday, August 27 at 3:00 at the Epiphany Catholic Church, 1905 Epiphany Ct., Lake City, Florida 32025. Burial will be at the Arlington National Cemetery at a date to be determined.

Donations in her memory may be sent to the Order of Mount Carmel, 819 SW Lake Montgomery Avenue Lake City, FL 32025-5190.