Family celebrates life of longtime Naperville farmer

As a farmer in Naperville for more than 70 years, Nicholas J. Modaff Sr. had a close-up view as the area grew from a rural community into the state's fourth-largest city.

"He was always amazed" by that transformation, said Joe Modaff, one of Nick Modaff's three sons.

Nick Modaff, 94, died Monday in Aurora. Visitation will be today in Naperville with funeral services to follow Saturday.

The lifelong area resident often would recount how during his time here he saw everything from horses and buggies to a man walking on the moon and cell phones, Joe Modaff said.

Mr. Modaff was born Jan. 24, 1914, on a farm near Liberty Street and West Jefferson Avenue right at the Naperville border.

He spent his early years on a farm off what is now 75th Street and Modaff Road. His father, whom the road was named after, was a farmer-turned-road commissioner in Naperville.

While Mr. Modaff's father, Peter Modaff, continued to concentrate on roads, Nick and his brothers and sisters worked the farm. That love of the land never left him.

Mr. Modaff married Alice Meisinger, the farm girl next door, on Feb. 6, 1937. At age 23, he moved his wife to a farm on South Washington Street across from Pioneer Park in Naperville and they raised six children there.

In 1950, the Modaffs moved again, this time just down the road, to a large farmhouse. There, Mr. Modaff milked a herd of dairy cows and grew corn, soybeans, oats, hay and wheat.

Nine years later, Mr. Modaff sold his dairy herd and bought the 304-acre Wheatland Township farm on 111th Street and Plainfield Road, where he began a new adventure -- raising hogs.

He believed in being a good neighbor, said Dave Modaff, his youngest son.

"In those days, neighbors always helped neighbors do the farming. There was always a big dinner when they brought the crops in and he'd be like the master of ceremonies," Dave Modaff said. "Everyone seemed to like him."

In 1978, at age 62, Mr. Modaff turned over operation of the farm to his oldest son, Nick Jr., but stayed on to help. He retired for good at age 77.

The elder Nick Modaff was named grand marshal of the Naperville Labor Day parade in 1997. He was surprised, but honored, Joe Modaff recalled.

Mr. Modaff and his wife, Alice, loved dancing.

"If there was a dance to go to, they went to it," Joe Modaff said.

The couple loved dancing so much that they started the 25 Dance Club in 1952, which ran until 1992. Roughly 25 couples met at a hall once a month and they had bands come in. Joe Modaff recalled that many of Naperville's prominent citizens danced along with them.

"He could throw one heck of a party, I know that," said Dave Modaff.

Mr. Modaff had a large group of friends and he taught everybody in their family how to have a good time.

While Nick's father, Peter, is a well-known figure in Naperville lore, Mr. Modaff has his own unique story.

As a young man out of high school in 1933, he worked on the original stone wall that is now the Riverwalk.

According to the Modaff family history, Nick also had a part in Prohibition.

Clarence Landorf, the man Nick's older sister Lillian would marry, ran a beer operation out of Peter Modaff's hog house, and Nick would help pick up supplies.

Nick Modaff loved to spend time with family and friends, play cards and watch the Cubs, Bears and Bulls. But he also loved watching his kids, grandkids and great-grandkids play sports.

Mr. Modaff himself was a high school football player, and according to Joe Modaff, played semi-professional ball for the Glen Ellyn Bears in the 1930s.

"He was a great father to six of us kids. A great brother. A wonderful grandfather," said Joe Modaff. "As he once told me, 'When you have your own children, it's just wonderful. When they give you grandkids, it's even better. When they're here, that's the ultimate,'" Joe Modaff said.

Visitation for Mr. Modaff will be 3 to 7 p.m. today at Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home, 44 S. Mill St., Naperville. A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Raphael Catholic Church at 1215 Modaff Road.

He is survived by sons Nick Jr., Joe and Dave; daughters, Carol Weissinger and Edith Brown; 15 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.