John R. Modisett

1930 - 2024

John R. Modisett

December 10, 1930 - April 4, 2024

Chapel Hill, North Carolina - John R. Modisett, 93, a resident of Chapel Hill, NC since 1991, died on April 4, 2024, at his home at Carolina Meadows Retirement Community.

Born December 10, 1930, in Minneapolis and adopted by John DeBoos Modisett and Valborg Myhre Modisett, John grew up in Detroit Lakes, MN, a beautiful summer resort community with just 5,000 people, where there were 412 lakes within a 25-mile radius of the town. One of his lifetime pleasures was the rewarding experience of having spent his early years there.

In 1953, John graduated from the University of North Dakota, received an ROTC USAF lieutenant's commission, married his college sweetheart, Barbara Jean Brown, and was assigned to Bitburg Air Base in Germany, where Barbara joined him. As the base Public Information Officer, he worked enthusiastically on his assignment but also had opportunities to become acquainted with Europe. He and Barbara bought an English MG roadster and began their lifelong interest in foreign travel.

Upon completing his military obligation, he began a 50-year marketing career, starting with N.W. Ayer advertising in Philadelphia later joining J. Walter Thompson in Chicago. As a vice president in account management, his clients included Kraft Foods, Quaker Oats, and on a pro bono basis, The Salvation Army. A favorite aspect of his J. Walter Thompson affiliation was the steady flow of interesting international associates visiting the company's Chicago offices. He and Barbara frequently hosted them at family dinners in their Winnetka home, with the proviso that their two pre-teen children would be included. John was half-Irish, and each March he recruited visiting Thompson internationalists to join him in watching Chicago's world-famous St. Patrick's Day on Michigan Avenue. They loved is as much as he did.

At age 45, John switched his business focus to not-for-print when he took on responsibility for marketing and development at WTTW, Chicago Public Television. Following this, a similar role at Evanston Hospital, where, as a senior vice president, he was instrumental in helping this prominent Northwestern University teaching hospital broaden its coverage to cover the greater Chicago community.

In 1991, at age 60, he and Barbara moved from Chicago to Chapel Hill, where they planned to eventually retire. However, not yet ready to retire, he began a third career in residential real estate and sold 300 homes, mostly with Tony Hall & Associates Real Estate.

When he was 75 John retired after a long and vigorous business career and found that he enjoyed retirement with a passion. He gardened, played a lot of tennis, traveled a bit, wrote a memoir and a collection of favorite travel vignettes, read an amazing number of histories and biographies, and attended continuing education courses at Duke University.

In 2010, when Barbara and John both turned 80, they moved to Carolina Meadows Retirement Community in Chapel Hill, where each became active in a variety of activities including John's service on the Carolina Meadows Board of Directors.

John was preceded in death by his parents, his stepmother Marion Albertson Modisett, sister Sandra Modisett, son John D. Modisett II, and daughter Anne Brown Modisett. Survivors include his wife Barbara, grandson Christopher Punnett (Rachel), great-grandchildren Aubrie, Madison, John, and Liam, and stepbrother Theodore Sherarts.

A memorial service will be held at the Chapel of the Cross, 304 e. Franklin St., Chapel Hill, on Friday, April 19 at 2:00. Interment will be at Christ Church, Winnetka, IL where both of his children are buried. Memorial gifts may be made in his memory to the Chapel of the Cross.