Mary Catherine Borden
Mary Catherine Borden, 94, died peacefully on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015, at Westminster-Canterbury Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, Virginia. Bob and Catherine Borden were long-time residents of Shepherdstown and parishioners of St. Agnes Catholic Church, from 1970 to 2006.
Surviving with her husband Bob is her daughter Betty, two sons Bob and Mike, seven grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
Mrs. Borden was born in 1920 in Poolesville, Maryland. She graduated from Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland and married Robert Borden on May 24, 1941 at St. Mary’s Church in Rockville.
Catherine enjoyed life. She was a great bowler and an enthusiastic card player. She was a regular at the local “500” card parties.
She also loved to travel, having visited almost all of the states. She often made trips to visit her children, including trips to Maine, San Diego, San Francisco and to Notre Dame at South Bend, Indiana..She made several trips to Europe, and especially enjoyed Germany and Ireland.
When they moved to the farm on Vance Rd. (off Trough Rd) in 1970, they were “pioneers” in the migration from the D.C. area to Shepherdstown. The Civil War era farmhouse they moved into needed a complete renovation, which was done by Buck Knighten. The first two years, they had to pump water up to the house from Rattlesnake Run. When the well was put in, Catherine then had enough water to do the weekly laundry. On the farm, Bob and Catherine were a team. If the cows got out, Catherine always went along to help Bob round them up!
Catherine attended daily Mass whenever possible at St. Agnes. Her volunteer work included The Owls, The Shepherdstown Women’s Club, the Homemakers Club and The Good Shepherd Caregivers. She drove for Meals on Wheels until she was into her 80s. It was said you could always count on Catherine to volunteer at an event.
She participated for several years in the Shepherd College (as it was known at the time) Health Class, and led the class when the instructor was unavailable. Legend has it that some donors came to Red Cross blood drives just for Catherine’s chocolate chip cookies.
When she was 87, Bob and Catherine moved to Westminster-Canterbury in Winchester. Catherine continued her activities there, going to exercise class regularly, playing bingo, going on local trips on the WC-SV shuttle and playing cards whenever possible. The Saturday before her death, she played poker with her granddaughter Andrea, and great-grandchildren Brennan and Sean.
The Mass of Christian Burial was held on Monday, Jan. 5 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Winchester. Fr. Matt from St. Agnes celebrated the Mass alongside Fr. Krempa. Interment was at St. Peter’s in Harpers Ferry.
Memorial donations in Catherine’s name in appreciation of the extraordinary care she received may be made to the Westminster-Canterbury Employee Emergency Fund, 300 Westminster-Canterbury Dr., Winchester, VA 22603.
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