Obituary of James Kendall Borthwick Sr.

James "Jim" Kendall Borthwick Sr. passed away on the morning of December 5th, 2023. He was a resident of Tower Light Senior Living in St. Louis Park, MN. Born on July 24th, 1939, in Englewood, New Jersey. He was the son of James Arthur Borthwick and Dorothy A Borthwick (Kendall).

He is survived by wife Suzanne K Borthwick.  Sue and Jim celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary on November 26th, 2023. Jim is also survived by son James K Borthwick Jr. and daughter Julie A Hillmyer, Daughter-in-Law Cory A Borthwick, Son-in-Law Marc A. Hillmyer, Grandchildren: Angelique, Nathan, Grace, Ruby and Fred and Great Grandchild: Santina Rose.

Sue and Jim married in New Jersey at the ages of 19 and 21 and then moved to Minnesota in 1963 when Jim was hired by Pillsbury. Simultaneously, Jim went to the University of Minnesota in the evenings to earn a degree in business over the course of 10 years.

After Pillsbury, Jim worked as a Publisher’s Representative for many years, eventually running his own business through the late 1980’s, He and Sue owned their own Franchise from 1990 until 2003. Jim was semi-retired for several years before he went back to work as a business broker until the age of 79.

In 1984, Jim took his last drink and remained sober for the remainder of his life. He was an active member of AA and attended the same meeting every Friday for over 30 years. It was at this meeting where he forged some of his closest friendships.

Jim had a true passion for dogs. In the mid 1980’s he and Sue started showing and breeding Standard Poodles. They loved their experience showing poodles and made many great friends in the standard poodle community. Later, Jim became active with greyhound rescue.

After a cancer diagnosis in July 2019, Jim battled for his last remaining years to keep going despite many health issues.

Sue B. was always at his side.

A Memorial /Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, January 6, 2024 at Cremation Society Chapel in Edina, 7110 France Ave. S. Edina, MN 55435. Visitation at 10:00am. Service at 11:00am and a reception to follow.

The Family has asked that Memorial Contributions be made to Can Do Canines or a charity of your choosing.