Kathleen Ann Modlin

Kathleen Ann Modlin died Sunday, July 27, 2025, at the age of 64 in Palm Desert
with her husband, Reg, by her side after several years of battling a myriad of health
issues.
Kathleen was born July 9, 1961 in Fontana, California, to parents William "Red"
Ashby and Carole Lynne Nicolay, nee De Cero, spending her early life there and in
surrounding communities, moving to Valley Center, California during her teen
years and attending Orange Glen High School where she joined the flag corps and
marched in parades across the state.
Following in her stepdad's and brother Jim's footsteps, Kathleen enrolled at the
University of Redlands in 1979 majoring in Communications. A strong and active
student, she served as a Spur, joined the Delta Kappa Psi sorority, worked in the
alumni relations office, wrote for the La Letra yearbook and served as editor-in-
chief of the Bulldog school newspaper. After receiving her BA in Communications,
Kathleen earned a Masters degree from Northwestern University.
Upon graduation, she worked at the famous Merchandise Mart in Chicago and later
served as Main Street program director in Temple, Texas where she led the
expansion of enterprise zones for that city.
Kathleen had a long-term, highly successful career in communications and public
relations working with multinational accounts at two prestigious PR firms, Cerrell
Associates in Los Angeles and Golin Harris in Chicago. It was during her tenure at
Cerrell that she met the love of her life and future husband, Reg, whom she married
in 1999.
In 1999, Kathleen became the Director of Communications for Masco
Corporation, a large, publicly-traded home goods company headquartered in
Taylor, Michigan. She retired from Masco after several years only to begin a
consulting engagement for her brother, Jim and his partners, Dan Larson and Sherri
Medina, at their company, CareMeridian, a rapidly growing healthcare practice.
That initial work would lead to a long-term engagement managing communications
and digital marketing for CareMeridian as well as HealthBridge, a newer company
started by Sherri and Dan. Kathleen loved working with all three partners but
developed a special bond with Dan who led business development for both entities.
Kathleen will be remembered for being smart, exceptionally organized, demanding,
and accountable. A stickler for details, she loved finding solutions to complex
market and communications problems. She took incredible pride in her work and
wanted to be sure that she never let anyone down who depended upon her.
Kathleen was direct and clear in her communications, unafraid to say what was on
her mind. She drew energy from engaging with her coworkers.
Always fashionable, Kathleen insisted on showing up dressed well and for the
occasion. She loved shopping, dining out, traveling, movies and the theatre.
Kathleen had a big heart and was exceptionally loyal to her family and friends. She
loved getting together with them for any reason. She particularly relished the role
of "Aunt Kathy" to her nieces and nephews and 'Grandma' to her four
grandchildren.
Kathleen was preceded in death by her beloved mom Carole Nicolay, dad Red
Ashby, stepfather Ted Nicolay, mother-in-law, Fran Modlin, sister-in-law Jana
Nicolay (Jeff's wife) and brother Bill Ashby who passed away just two years ago.
She is survived by husband, best friend and life partner Reg, his children Ryan
(Amy), Sam Modlin (Cristin), Alexandra and Devon, grandchildren Owen, Laila,
Gracie, Harper, Liam and Francis brothers Jim (Donna) and Jeff, as well as nine nieces and
nephews.
The family will be holding a small, private gathering of Kathleen's inner circle to
celebrate her life and impact, In lieu of sending flowers, you can make a donation to
the Christal Carter Creative Arts Scholarship | Bold.org, a fund established to
perpetuate the life work of a dear friend of Kathleen and her family.