Some knew him as Jon but most knew him as Steve.  His name is Jon Steven and he is named partially after his late father, Jon Terry.  And my mom now thinks this was not a great idea - the spelling of Jon vs John and then calling him by his middle name.  Our mom is not clear how the name Steven was picked but she was insistent that it not be spelled Stephen. Steve was born July 7, 1967 in Evanston, Illinois.  We lived in nearby Skokie.  I was almost three when Steve was born.   

Growing up, Steve was an avid baseball player with many years being coached by his dad.  And he later joined his dad in Boy Scouts.  He was involved in a Skokie troop where they did the classic things like pinewood derby, weekend camping, working on merit badges and going to summer camp.  He even attended one of the national Boy Scout Jamborees where my mom remembers a near disaster that Steve handled like a pro.  The family calendar did not have the Jamboree on it. The troop was taking the train from Chicago to Washington DC and she got a call that he hadn't shown up.  The family rallied and put him on a plane to DC to meet up with his troop.  He arrived and took a taxi to join his troop. However it was not so easy to find them in as the city was full of Boy Scouts.  But the story has a happy ending and a good time was had by all.

In his middle school years, Steve was involved in the church youth group and he played the trombone.  In high school, he joined the cross country team where he excelled and grew to become the team captain.  He was fortunate to have developed some deep friendships that carried him throughout the years.

After graduating from high school, he headed to Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois.  He concluded that  was not for him and returned home to attend Oakton Community College and work part time at the Jewel supermarket chain.  After a few years he got his first taste of sales when he started to work at a large dealership selling cars.

The pull to head south was strong and he relocated to Florida working in export management for a car company.  While working there he met his future wife, Heidi. She is the one that annointed him "Bubba". They bought a house that required lots of sweat equity and made significant improvements over the years.  There was a particular banyan tree on the property that wreaked havoc with their pipes and they got to know the plumber very well with frequent visits for clearing the pipes of tree roots.  Steve wore out so many sanders, that Sears finally told him that they would no longer replace them under warranty. While living in this house they adopted the first of several cats, Elizabeth.  Steve got his scuba diving certification while living in Florida.

They married in March 1992.  He continued to work in sales for various distributors and late in 1992 he got into pest control sales and service. He developed expertise and certification in tenting for treating termites.  As he was working on advancement with his company, he took a statewide exam and achieved the highest score in the state which made us all very proud.

After 10 years of Florida living, they wanted to move somewhere else and after doing some research, they decided to move to New Jersey near where Heidi had grown up.  They bought the trailer on Ridge Road and made plans to move.  In Spring of 2003, Heidi was diagnosed with cancer. It progressed quickly and she passed away in October in the trailer at the age of 37.  Of course this had a significant and lasting effect on Steve.

Steve started working and joined a grief support group that eventually connected him with 11th Hour Animal Rescue which led to meeting Katharine, the founder of Smitten by Kittens which he also supported.  You can tell that Steve had a real connection with dogs and cats - I think they always brought out the best in each other.  Animals ultimately introduced him to Meredith who became his partner for many years with her family of cats and dogs. 

My mom developed a liking for buffalo plaid and gave everyone buffalo plaid scarves for Christmas one year.  He and Meredith took it to the next level by photographing themselves and their scarves throughout Hawaii. Steve was like that honoring someone else's interest in an entertaining way.  

And he was of course known as the fun uncle.  Jordan and Madison have lots of fond memories hanging with him at the holidays or when he would come to spend a week at the lake in Maine.  He was especially known for giving wet willies and lots of piggy back rides and he couldn't resist taking a picture with his finger up the nose of a statue.  Steve was always there to support significant milestone's in friends and family members' lives for things like birthdays, high school and college graduations and  weddings. And his calendar showed many reminders of significant days that would prompt him to check in with many of you.

Steve developed great knowledge in the stock market with an interest in pharmaceutical companies and supported himself by being a day trader. He also had a creative outlet in designing logos for t-shirts and sweatshirts.  He had some great home repair skills that he freely shared with family and friends whenever they needed help.  Steve retained his knowledge of pest control from his early Florida days; whenever I would talk with him about a bug issue, I would get a surprise delivery from Amazon the next day with whatever I needed for treatment.

Jon Steven Modlin passed away in his trailer on August 27, 2023.  Steve's wishes were to be cremated and we will spread his ashes in the spring between two locations:  Michigan where Heidi's ashes are buried and central Illinois at a family cemetery.   

Memorial contributions can be made to your local animal shelter or Smitten by Kittens cat rescue in NJ.

These are my memories of Steve and his life so my apologies if I have missed something significant or have gotten some timelines wrong.

A huge thank you to each of you as you walked with him along his journey.

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