James Andrew Borger, 77, of Hingham, MA passed away in his home on August 19th after a lengthy battle with cancer surrounded by his wife and children and listening to one of his favorite songs, “Piano Man” by Billy Joel.
Born in 1942, Jimmy, along with his younger sister Lisa, was one of two children of Czech immigrants Bruno and Marianne Borger who fled their home country in 1938. Jimmy was born and raised in Nashville, TN. He embraced his southern birthplace by attending Vanderbilt University in Nashville for undergrad and then University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis. Jim’s career was on a steady path when, during his residency in Boston, MA, he met Lisa Sharp who was working as an O.R. scheduler while attending undergrad at Boston University. They were married and his career took their family to Chicago Children’s Hospital for surgical fellowship, Adak, Alaska for military service after draft deferment, Boston Children’s Hospital, All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL as Chief of Surgery, Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, FL, and finally back to Boston where he concluded his career at Boston Medical Center where it all began.
Along the way they welcomed three children and countless dogs, a few cats, some guinea pigs, and one budgie that lasted a week. No matter where he lived, Jim was devoted to his job and his family. Sometimes he found the line between those pursuits difficult, but whether he was lobstering in Quincy Bay, taking the family on a boat trip to Egmont Key off the coast of St. Petersburg, or letting his kids drive the golf cart at Timuquana CC in Jacksonville, Jim did his best to make the most of his time. Over subsequent years there were family mountain trips, Christmases in Nashville, painting (a little bit), enjoying good TV and bad, and many a Tom Clancy political thriller.
Later in life, as his children started families of their own, “Doc” and “Pink” settled down at their home base in Hingham, MA to enjoy a slower pace playing golf at Cohasset Golf Club and rooting for their Boston teams. In fact, you might say Doc made a sport of lovingly yelling at those teams through the television set. Once his children found their paths and he was given grandchildren to dote on, Papa knew he had accomplished what he had set out to do.
Doc devoted his life to Pediatric Surgery in order to have the most impact on a sick child and their family. As he said, “If I can do what needs to be done and do it well, I can give that child 60, 70, 80 years of life. And that’s a pretty damn good feeling.”
He is survived by his wife, Pink, of 48 years; his children Chris (Claire), Ashley (Stephen), Josh (Leslie); and 7 grandchildren, Lucy Field (14), Luke (12), Reen (10), Renn (9), June & Beatrice (6), and Hanna (2).
There will be a memorial forthcoming.
Memorial donations can be made to Hospice of Norwell and The Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund.
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