John Nicholas Cevette

Cevette, John Nicholas

Age 75, passed away peacefully October 21, 2023, in Minnetonka, having closed his Minneapolis ad agency Cevette & Co. at age 50 and lived the last third of his life with Parkinson's. He didn't let the disease define him, nor did he ever complain, instead conjuring ways to outsmart or make peace with it. Jerky movements that led to a broken wineglass or shattered phone screen were but, in John's words, "his good friend Dyskinesia stopping by for a visit."

John was born August 25, 1948, to Nicholas and Norma Cevette, first-generation Italians who raised their three children in the small, Appalachian foothills town of Elkland, Penn. Its education system lacking, John skipped class, spent his days reading at the library and graduated with honors, displaying early on the qualities that mark genius: intellect, tenacity, creativity, humor. He went on to major in philosophy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, forgoing his acceptance into Ithaca College School of Music as a promising concert pianist.

As student body president at UNLV, he, along with young leaders from around the country, met President Richard Nixon in protest of the Vietnam War. Next came Georgetown University Law School, where U.S. Senator Howard Cannon (D-Nev.) discovered John's brilliant political mind and put him to work on Capitol Hill … during Watergate. Upon graduation with a juris doctor in law, John was appointed general counsel in the U.S. Senate then later became U.S. Senator Floyd Haskell's (D-Colo.) chief of staff.

Passionate about social justice and deeply affected by human suffering, inequality and systemic oppression, John learned to make a difference in people's lives through politics. Disinterested in running for office himself, John used his respective posts to help pass legislation from which millions still benefit today.

A yearlong sabbatical in Paris post-government and pre-private practice gave rise to his love of France and fluency in French. (John revisited France solo a few years ago, securing the help he needed as a physically challenged traveler. The guy just didn't view his limitations as limiting.)

His creative side calling, John made a career pivot in 1985, establishing his namesake Minneapolis agency, where he led teams who followed-some might say endured-his refusal to accept his own or others' mediocrity. Their collective efforts won several Clio Awards.

He next spearheaded a remarkable recovery of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, repeating the results as CEO for the Colorado Corn Association after moving west. By now diagnosed, John served as a Colorado bank's board president until his love of politics brought him to his final position-Colorado State Senate chief of staff-before Parkinson's determined his retirement.

"John's life was consequential," says his lifelong friend Dale Deines of Minneapolis. "He made a difference. He used his brilliance and passion for good even as some of his flaws occasionally obscured the good. But it was there. And it remains in all of us who have been made better for knowing him."