Jimmie J. Borgman, Sr.

Jimmie Jay Borgman, Sr. was born on September 27, 1935: he later penned that this was the “extraordinarily difficult time called the Great Depression”; he departed in the very early morning of Monday, April 11, 2022.

He married and is survived by the true love of his life, Marilyn Gay Borgman (nee Kunkel). They met in Holland, Michigan about 65 years ago, when Marilyn was a waitress and he had a cool car. They never waxed philosophic nor put on airs about this feat, they simply did the necessary work and kept their marriage together. During this time they had four children, 11 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren, with the 7th due in May. “Boo”, “Dad”, and “Poppy” was serenaded into his next chapter by rotating combinations of these children, grandchildren and loving friends during his last days.

Jim is survived by his “children/grands/greatgrands”:

Family of Jim and Mechelle Borgman Jr., with grandchildren/great grandchildren: Jennifer and Ian Canterbury with their young Sterling and a baby girl Mavis, soon to make her debut; Robin and Wish Holzhausen.  

Family of Jill and Eddie Redder with grandchildren/great grandchild: Rebecca and Ryan Boersema with their young Owen; Nathan Redder.

Family of Betsy and John Farley with grandchildren/great grandchildren: Samantha and Dustin Ruby with their young Payten, Jaxson and Blake;  Michael T. Metzger; Melissa and Tony Dreifke;  Jacob W. Metzger.

Family of Stephanie Dawe with grandchildren/great grandchild: Rachel Dawe; Sarah Dawe with her young Brooklyn; Erin Dawe.

Jim is survived by his loving brother in law, Daniel Kunkel, sister in law Junis Winters, children and grandchildren.  

He is also survived by his very loving fur baby, “Merry”.

Jimmie served in the Marines for 12 years, achieving the rank of a Sergeant E6 and in the Naval Reserves for 14 years achieving the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer, E8.

The “survival numbers”, however, are in the hundreds. From his military family to his church family, he loved you and you loved him. There is a current of loyalty in these relationships that runs deep and still. You know who you are, he knows who you are, and we do too. To you, we can only say, “thank you and we love you, truly and eternally”.

Jim packed each minute of his life beyond what a moment should be able to contain. He wrote about his life, in explicit, glorious detail in a voice that is authentic and engaging, capturing the fullness of his experience and perspective that can leave one wondering how his recollections could have been so clearly articulated years afterwards. Examples of the stories he tells include breaking his father’s nose and the fire that wasn’t, and the time when his pet mouse got underneath his brother’s body cast. He fully and intentionally lived each moment, and he never took the easy way out of any situation.  Jim would talk about what comes “next” and he was ready for this; he was not afraid. He has one document entitled, “Do Not Fear”; and the entirety of the passage is this: “Do Not Fear”. When we read that, we knew that he wrote that for us; maybe he wrote it for you, too.

Greater minds than our own have tried to figure out what comes next, after “this life”. What we do know is that Jimmie didn’t wait to find out, he lived each moment fully and we are thankful to have walked this way together.   

Lastly, if you wish to make a donation to honor Jim, please make a donation to Wounded Warriors, or to a similar charitable cause.

Jimmie’s celebration of life will be on Saturday, April 30, 2022, at Hamsher Lakeside Funeral Home, 12 N. Pistakee Lake Rd., Fox Lake, IL 60020; visitation begins at 1:00 p.m., and the memorial service begins at 2:00 p.m., officiated by Reverend Scott Ehlert. You may click here to view the livestream of the service.  Some light refreshments will be available. Per the family, masks are required.  

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