Barbara Brown Modisett

1930 - 2025

Barbara Brown Modisett

March 15, 1930 - February 6, 2025

Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Barbara Brown Modisett, 94, of Chapel Hill, NC, died February 6, 2025 in Chapel Hill.

Barbara Brown Modisett was born March 15, 1930 in Grand Forks, ND to the late Mabel Brenden Brown and William Joseph Brown, and was the 5th generation to grow up in the historic family home in that city. She graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1952, where her romance with her husband, John R. Modisett, blossomed when she was president of her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, and he was president of his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi. Following their marriage in 1953, they lived in Germany for 2 years where her husband was stationed with the US Air Force.

They lived in Winnetka, IL for 33 years where they raised their family. She was associated with The North Shore Country Day School as Director of Publications and in her retirement was a volunteer archivist in the History of Printing Department at Chicago's Newberry Library. They moved to Chapel Hill in 1991 where she was a volunteer reading tutor at Estes Hills School. An incurable romantic, she loved woodland gardens, the music of Chopin and moonlight. Her philosophy was "Live each day as though it will be your last, and one day you will be right." A member of the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America, The Garden Club of America, and The Winthrop Society, she thoroughly enjoyed exploring her genealogy, especially when finding the occasional rogue in her lineage. She was a member of The Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill and at one time was director of the Altar Guild.

Barbara and John moved to Carolina Meadows Retirement Community in 2010. They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in June 2023.

Survivors include grandson Christopher Punnett, his wife Rachel and three great-grandchildren, Madison, John, and Liam of Dadeville, AL, nephew Jeffrey Brown (Leslie) and family of Poulsbo, WA, niece Kari Spencer (John) and family of Slidell, LA, nephews Rolf Wilkin (Ceri) and family of Fayetteville, AR, and Kurt Wilkin (Carrie) and family of Austin, TX. Preceding her in death were her beloved husband John, son John DeBoos Modisett II, daughter Anne Brown Modisett, sister Elsie Ann Brown Wilkin, brother Frank Addison Brown, and nephew Eric Joseph Wilkin.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 15, 10:00 a.m. at the Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church in Chapel Hill. Interment will be held at a later date in the family plot at Christ Church, Winnetka, IL. where her husband and children are buried.