Jack H Borden

Parker County legend, Jack Borden, 102-year-old practicing attorney and former Weatherford mayor, died Wednesday in a Weatherford hospital. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, January 24, 2011, at First Baptist Church in Weatherford, corner of Palo Pinto and Alamo Streets. Interment will follow in East Greenwood Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, January 23, 2011, at White's Funeral Homes, located at 130 Houston Ave. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Scholarship Fund of First Baptist Church, 221 West Church St., Weatherford, Texas 76086, and/or Weatherford College. Mr. Borden was honored in 2008 as America's outstanding oldest worker, a tribute that he deserved, according to life-long friend Roy Grogan. "Jack was not only America's most outstanding oldest worker, he excelled at living, Grogan said. "I've known Jack and his family since I was a kid. I knew his family and I came home to Weatherford from a career with the FBI to go into law partnership with him. He described himself as a country lawyer and that's what he was. He was humble, honest forthright, capable and highly intelligent. "His love of the law, life and people was unexcelled. He truly deserved every honor he received," Grogan said. Mr. Borden was honored in February, 2010 when Jack Borden Way, named in his honor which connects Santa Fe Drive to Fort Worth Highway at Denton Street, opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attending by about 80 local dignitaries, including city council members, staffers, representatives of TXDoT and the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce, on hand. In August, 2010, Former Speaker of the House Jim Wright was present to celebrate Mr. Borden's many accomplishments and today in a telephone interview described him as a good example. "He was an inspiration to people my age. He spoke at my Weatherford College graduation. His speech has stuck with me all these years. I always got encouragement from Jack," Speaker Wright said. Parker County Judge Mark Riley also lauded Mr. Borden's abilities. "It was an honor to have Jack Borden practice probate in my court. Always, professional, with a sense of humor that we will all miss," Riley said. Mr. Borden traveled to Washington, D.C. in September, 2008 to be recognized as Texas' Outstanding Older Worker of the Year, an award given by Experience Works, the nation's largest nonprofit training and employment organization for older workers. An attorney since 1935, Mr. Borden was the oldest member of the State Bar of Texas and was the nation's oldest living former FBI agent. He served as mayor of Weatherford from 1960 to 1964 and was selected Outstanding Citizen of Weatherford in 2005. Mr. Borden was born August 5, 1908, eight miles east of Weatherford on Clear Fork Creek, now a part of Lake Weatherford. The son of tenant farmers or share croppers, John Samuel Borden and Bess Wallis, he grew up in what was known as the Borden Community. He graduated from Weatherford College in 1931 and from University of Texas Law School in 1936. He was elected as Parker County District Attorney in 1938 and went into the FBI in 1942. He was a charter member of the Parker County Sheriff's Posse formed in 1947. He was preceded in death in 2006, by the love of his life, wife of 66 years, Edith Jordan Borden, a life-long resident and historian of Parker County who was legend for her research of Texas history and her church work at First Baptist Church of Weatherford. Mr. Borden was a long time and faithful member of First Baptist Church also. Mr. Borden is survived by nephew and law partner John Westhoff and wife, Sue Ann, of Weatherford, great-niece, Paige Westhoff, of Dallas, and great- nephew U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander John Trenton Westhoff and wife Amy, and their daughter Corrine, of Pensacola, Fl