Sometimes, life has its share of curves in between the straight lines.

That would be the case for Marseilles native, U.S. Navy veteran and current Ottawa High School nurse Trisha Modeen. But those bends in the road also have led her across the world, to a job she loves. and to a hobby that allows her to give back to those who are or have served in war.

“My mom was a single mom, and I have two sisters, so there was not going to be money available for me to go to college,” said Modeen, who graduated from Marseilles High School in 1987. “College was just not going to be an option right out of high school. The thought of joining the military, for me, was to give me that opportunity. I knew my senior year in high school that the military was going to be the path I was going to take. It wasn’t my first choice, but it was the best option, and it allowed me to see the world.”

Modeen served in the U.S. Navy and reserves from 1988 to 1992. She was stationed in Japan as a cryptologic technician and also served during Desert Storm.

After her service, Modeen earned her associate degree from Illinois Valley Community College, then received a bachelor’s degree from Mennonite College of Nursing in Normal.

“Being an athlete and softball player in high school, I thought my first major was going to be in physical education, but then it changed to nursing,” she said.

Modeen started as a certified nursing assistant instructor in 2010 at Ottawa High School and also taught at Indian Valley Vocational Center in Sandwich in 2006 and 2007. She became a full-time nurse at OHS in 2016.

“[IVCC] is where I started working with high school students,” Modeen said. “I loved working with them. They were awesome. They were fun, and the interactions were special. So, when the chance to work here at Ottawa came about, I was excited to get the position.”

Modeen said her hobby of quilt-making came about during her service.

“I received a quilt made by my grandfather while I was stationed in Japan,” Modeen said. “That quilt has traveled the world with me.”

Then, in 2014, Modeen was awarded a quilt from the Quilts of Valor Foundation.

“That’s when I decided contributing to the foundation was something I was going to do to give back to my military family,” she said.

Quilts of Valor is for any active-duty or veteran who has been touched by war. These are not gifts – they are awarded with the recipient’s name and what branch of service they were in.

Civilians make the quilts, which have to be registered and include a label noting who made it. The quilts have to be of patriotic colors – red, white and blue – and must be a certain size.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation began in 2003 by founder Catherine Roberts, whose son Nat was deployed in Iraq. There have been 23,067 quilts made and awarded so far this year, and 424,428 to date since the foundation started.

Modeen said her mom helped her get started in learning to make quilts, but a lot of the journey was self-taught. She said she now teaches people how to make T-shirt quilts.

“I’ve come a long way since then,” Modeen said. “It is such a relaxing and rewarding hobby for me.”

Modeen said a couple of things have stuck with her since her time in the military.

“I have two things that I carry with me every day from my time in the military,” she said. “The first one is always put your head down and work hard so you can stand on what you’ve done.

“The second is life goes fast, [so] take the adventure. And by that, I mean if you have a chance to do something you want to do, do it. Don’t wait or say, ‘Well, maybe someday’ or ‘When I retire,’ because that someday may not come around.”

Those interested in more information about Quilts of Valor can visit qovf.org.