Naomi Borke

Naomi Borke, age 102, was born on February 26, 1921, in Buxton Township to Jens and Clara (Saevig) Molvig. She went to school and graduated from Buxton High School in 1938.

She graduated in 1940 from Mayville State Teacher’s College with a teaching degree and taught in Lakota, ND. From 1942-1945, she worked as a secretary at the naval shipyard in Bremerton, WA. Upon return to Buxton, she helped her father on the farm and taught elementary school in Buxton.

On November 15, 1950, Naomi married Carroll Borke and moved to their farm west of Hillsboro, ND. They had two daughters, Ramona and Shannon. She took care of the home and the yard, worked on the potato planter in the spring, and drove combine and grain truck during the fall harvest.

Naomi took great pride in maintaining an immaculate house and yard, mowing from sun-up to sundown on the farm, as well as clipping down the grass around each tree. After windstorms, she and her daughters spent many hours picking up sticks throughout the farm. She took much pride in the appearance of her home, both inside and out.

In 1987, she and Carroll built a house in Hillsboro. She resided in the house until she was 99, still keeping it immaculate and still mowing the yard for most of those years. They spent winters at their home in Mesa, AZ and weekends during the summer at the family lake place on Big Cormorant Lake, where there, too, she kept an immaculate cabin and lawn.

Carroll passed away in 2014, and she continued living in their home until 2020, when she moved into Comstock Corner Assisted Living and the nursing home in 2022. She passed away on December 5, exactly nine years to the day from when Carroll passed away.

Naomi was active in Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, where she taught and coordinated Bible School, taught Sunday School, chaired the Ladies’ Aid, planned Mother-Daughter Banquets, and participated in Circle. She was also an active member in the District 21 Republican Party. She enjoyed golf and playing whist at the golf club. She enjoyed trips to the casinos in Minnesota, Arizona, and Nevada and playing Bingo in Mesa, Hillsboro, at the lake and in the nursing home.

She loved to embroider dishtowels, tablecloths and table runners, pictures, and pillow cases, and people would bring her dishtowels to embroider for them. They are treasured.

She is survived by her daughters, Ramona Borke, Audubon, MN, Shannon (Paul) VanHorn, Fargo, ND, grandchildren Phillip (Hanneli) VanHorn, Zachary VanHorn, Laura Schumacher, and Brittany VanHorn, and great grandson William VanHorn. She also leaves behind many beloved nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband Carroll, her parents, and her sisters Agnes Skarperud and Hjerdis Watson.

Services will be held 11 AM Monday, December 11, 2023, at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Hillsboro with a visitation one hour prior. Interment will follow at Riverside Cemetery, Hillsboro.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Wildeman-Boulger Funeral Home in Hillsboro. To sign the online guest book, please visit our website at www.boulgerfuneralhome.com