Birth date: Dec 6, 1931 Death date: Nov 3, 2020
James Modisette, the youngest of four children of the late Clarence and Lillie McCall Modisette, passed away Tuesday, November 3, 2020. He was born December 6, 1931, in south Arkansas and attended Mt. Holly public schools as well Read Obituary
Connie and I are just learning of Jim’s passing. Dianne, we are so sorry. He was a dear friend to us in our graduate school years. You and Jim influenced our lives by your marriage and devotion to each other. You will be in our prayers and he will always be in our memories.
Diane, praying for you during this difficult time. Jim had such a presence. I know he will carry that same spirit into heaven. Love you! The Marsh Family.
Diane, Amy, and Mark I am so so sorry for your loss. You are in my thoughts and prayers. "Coach" as l loved to call him, was much more than just an accounting professor to me. He offered me life advise, helped me get a job with your close friends so I could pay for my education, any many many more things. I truly considered him as my mentor. I am so thankful I was able to come visit him in March right before the pandemic began. We will all miss him so much, but he will not be forgotten. His legacy will continue in the thousands of students he taught.
Rick Chapman
BSBA 76
Diane, my sympathy to you and your family. I am picturing him now, in heaven, looking up his old friend Dr Doris Cook so they can share Razorback memories. Two legends, now passed.
Dr. Modisette was my former professor, my colleague and my friend. He had a significant influence on my life and, through me, on the lives of hundreds of other students.
He was the Chair of the Accounting Department when I was a student in the early 1980's and I took the CPA Review course from him, which was instrumental in helping me pass at my first sitting. He was also the Faculty Advisor for the Accounting Honor Society, Beta Alpha Psi, of which I was an active member. I remember going with him to the Regional meeting in San Antonio in Spring 1984 and the National Meeting in New Orleans the summer of 1983. His cheerful friendship I will always treasure.
He not only encouraged me in my career at Price Waterhouse but also in my plans to become a professor. After I studied for my PhD at Missouri, he encouraged me to apply for a job at the University of Arkansas. Because he provided such a great example of leading Beta Alpha Psi, I volunteered to be the Faculty Advisor and served in that capacity, and on the National Board, for more than twenty years. I hope that hundreds, if not thousands, of Arkansas students benefited from that organization and from the example of what it means to be a good teacher through my career. So his influence on making the world better continues through the lives of his students and the students of his students...and will continue. Thank you, Dr. Modisette.
Dr. Charles JF Leflar
Dr. Modisette truly impacted every student he crossed paths with along life's journey. I have very fond memories of him and am thankful I was able to thank him in person for the impact he had on my life and the poem I used to do so is just as fitting today as it was in the spring of 1982:
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening cold and gray
To a chasm vast and deep and wide
Through which was flowing a swollen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The rapids held no fears for him.
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” cried a fellow pilgrim near,
“You’re wasting your time in building here.
Your journey will end with the closing day;
You never again will pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm deep and wide;
Why build you this bridge at even-tide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head.
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There follows after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This stream, which has been as naught to me,
To that fair youth may a pitfall be.
He too must cross in the twilight dim —
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”
To a great "bridge builder", you will be missed but not forgotten by all the youth who crossed one of your many bridges. Terri Alford Stark BSBA 1982
Dr. Modisette was "larger than life" in the classroom. His care for the success of his students was remarkable. I will be forever thankful for his mentorship and coaching as a young accounting student. He definitely shaped my accounting career. He will be sorely missed. My sincere condolences go out to Mrs. Modisette as well as Mark & Amy.
Steve Nelson (BSBA 1980)
I pray GOD will comfort and be close to you all. Jack Miller
My thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time.
