R.I.P Rev. Jane Borden. Rev. Jane was great inspiration and colleague of mine and my advocacy for GLBT students and the NYS Dignity for All Students Act . Jane facilitated a number of LGBT education and religion conferences and workshops. SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Rev. Jane T. Borden of Saratoga Springs died peacefully Thursday, Jan. 15, after a brief illness. Born in 1929 in the Cincinnati suburb of Mount Healthy, she was the daughter of H. Elwood Turner and Kathryn Rose Smith. She had two brothers, James Elwood Turner and Herbert Cameron Turner. Rev. Borden graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Cincinnati and then entered Yale Divinity School at a time when few women were permitted to enter and even fewer graduated. It was at Yale that she met and married James Ivan Borden. After graduation, they moved first to Yonkers and then to Brandon, Vermont, where James was the minister of Brandon Methodist Church from 1954 to 1961. It was at this time that their children, Erich and Scott, were born. After Brandon, Jane moved with Jim and her children to Averill Park and then to Latham (both in New York). Jane then became an ordained Methodist minister herself, serving with her husband at Saratoga Springs United Methodist Church and then as the pastor of Round Lake United Methodist Church. It was while serving in Saratoga Springs that her husband was tragically killed in 1984. Upon retirement, Rev. Borden became the chaplain at the Wesley Community in Saratoga Springs. She later became a resident of their independent assisted-living and finally skilled nursing facilities. Rev. Borden was a passionate champion of inclusive language in liturgy and of the rights of the LGBT community. She was instrumental in the decision by Saratoga Springs United Methodist Church to become a reconciling congregation, a decision it made more than 20 years ago. Rev. Borden is survived by her two sons, Erich Borden of Easton and Brother Scott Borden, OHC, of West Park; and by her grandchildren, James Borden and his wife, Tomomi, of Tokyo, Japan, and Sarah Borden, currently a student at Cortland. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1, at Saratoga Springs United Methodist Church, 175 Fifth Ave. at Henning Road, Saratoga Springs. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Saratoga Springs United Methodist Church or to the Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York. Arrangements are under the direction of William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs. Online remembrances may be made at burkefuneralhome.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 14:14:16 +0000