Born August 2, 1938 in Marion, Indiana to Mr. Rosco “Doc” Modlin and Myrneth Modlin, Richard enjoyed playing golf and basketball as a youngster and in high school was the football team quarterback. He would also work at the Modlin family print shop. As his sister Janet claims, he was always very intelligent. After high school he attended Indiana University, Bloomington, attaining a pre-med bachelor’s degree. He met Nancy Pressel and they married in June of 1961, then graduated medical school at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.
From medical school he completed a year internship at Orange County General Hospital in Santa Ana, California. His first daughter Deanna was born in the same hospital in June 1964. He then was the medic for Culver Military Academy in Indiana later that summer.
Drafted into the army, Dick went through military training at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas then was stationed at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado while also being employed at Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, Colorado. On the first big call up to fight in Vietnam from Ft. Carson he was stationed at Da Nang, Vietnam for one year. During his last four months he served in the jungle facing 24 hour cannon fire and was exposed to Agent Orange which greatly effected his health in his later years. Upon return from Vietnam, Richard began his residency in Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) at Indiana University Medical Center.
Dick fell in love with golf in high school, during his residency and from then forward he had his golf clubs in the trunk of his car at the ready and joined the Indianapolis Country Club. During residency, another daughter Laura Modlin and a son, Alan Modlin were born. The family moved back to Colorado Springs in the spring of 1971 where he started his solo ENT practice. At one point, Chief of Surgery at Memorial Hospital, he performed the most difficult surgeries of the inner ear and has taken out hundreds upon hundreds of tonsils.
A renaissance man, Richard was an avid outdoors man and he shared this love with his family. He enjoyed many wonderful days at their mountain cabins and together they enjoyed mountain climbing, bicycling, skiing, hiking, camping, backpacking, fly- fishing, kayaking, ice-hockey on the cabin lake and travel. France was his favorite where he bicycled through with his daughter Laura. He climbed many 14’ers and bicycled over most Colorado passes. Dick enjoyed the game of squash and was a member of the Broadmoor Country Club team where he also golfed. He raced his red Porsche 911’s at an Aspen racetrack. Carpentry was a hobby and he remodeled a basement where he built a sauna, dark room, wine cellar and a bar and table from salvaged wood from the Chief Theater after it was torn down. Wine connoisseur and lover of many genre of music from classical to rock, opera was his love and often attended the Santa Fe Opera. He flew over the Southwest in a friend’s small plane and loved the Canyon lands of Utah and Grand Canyon. A life highlight was attending his son Alan’s wedding in Australia.
Photography was a big part of Modlin life. Dick used his dark room for developing photographs and was a member of the competitive Pikes Peak Camera Club. He enjoyed shooting landscapes and architecture. He later became very interested in bird watching, acquiring an apt ability for photographing unique and exotic birds.
After retirement from medicine, Dr. Modlin traveled. He wintered in Queen’s Creek, Arizona near his son and family, loving the time he spent with his grandchildren cheering a second generation of Modlin hockey. As a campground host South Rim of the Grand Canyon he visited friends many winters and enjoyed South Padre Island and spending summers in Colorado near his daughter, granddaughters and twin great-grandsons.
He is survived by his brother, Robert Modlin, DDS; his sister, Janet Fisher; his daughters, Deanna Statler and Laura Modlin and son Alan Modlin; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was greatly loved and respected by many and passed away surrounded by love and family. He will be sorely missed. Godspeed Richard.
William Omar
2 Aug 2020Condolences. Hope all is well.