William Berle Borsdorff ’35

A five-year man at Kent, Bill Borsdorff distinguished himself as a solid student, citizen, and athlete before going on to Dartmouth and eventually The Tuck School of Business. He then served in WWII as a torpedo patrol boat Captain in the United States Navy. Following the war, Bill joined the firm of Johnson & Johnson, where he served as President and Division Chief of Jelco Laboratories until his retirement in 1976.

Bill’s first year at Kent coincided with the School’s twenty-fifth anniversary, Fr. Sill’s sixtieth birthday, the completion of North Dorm, and the celebration of the first Sunday Eucharist in the then newly completed St. Joseph’s Chapel. As it contribution to that marvelous edifice, Bill’s class raised funds for the easternmost window in its south wall, bearing the inscription “Fidelitas.” The Class of 1935 has been exemplary in its loyalty to Kent ever since. And in his own quiet, unassuming way, for all his life as a Kent alumnus Bill has been one of its most loyal members. In addition to being an unflagging supporter of the Kent Annual Fund, and a charter K-E-Y Society member, Bill helped launch the School’s Pooled High Income Fund in 1991; responded to a challenge by Hadley Case ’29 to expand and renovate the Dickinson Science Center in 1996; and in 1999 created a 6% Charitable Remainder Unitrust funded with over $6.8 million in highly appreciated securities – the largest single gift in Kent’s history. Bill’s gift is for endowment in support of faculty salaries. Bill also left a substantial bequest to Kent which will serve to endow his annual giving and fund two new faculty homes, one in honor of “Pop” Woods, his favorite Kent teacher, and one honoring the memory of the Class of 1935’s Senior Prefect Cyrus R. Vance.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candle-stick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  [Matthew: 5:14-16]

Bill died on February 10, 2004. If ever there were one in the nearly 100 year history of Kent School to shine his benevolent light on the future of 550 young men and women and the seventy-eight dedicated teachers who serve them, William Berle Borsdorff '35 was certainly one of them. Indeed, Bill’s is a light that will never go out, for beyond his selfless support of family, he has generously endowed our students, our faculty, and the structures that will house and serve them and generations that follow.

Office of Planned Giving
Kent School
P.O. Box 2006
Kent, CT 06757
860-927-6023 | 877-770-KENT | Fax: 860-927-6027
E-mail: kerrj@kent-school.edu