Eugene Jordan "Gene" Borseth

NORTHWOOD - Eugene "Gene" Jordan Borseth, 85, of Northwood, died Sunday (Dec. 30, 2007) at the Manly Nursing and Rehab Center in Manly.

Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, at Schroeder & Sites Funeral Home, Highway 65 S., Northwood, with the Rev. Barbara Wills officiating. Burial will take place at a later date.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. today at the Schroeder and Sites Funeral Home, Northwood.

Eugene "Gene" Jordan Borseth was born on Dec. 1, 1922, in Thompson, the son of Iver and Minnie Borseth. He was baptized into the Lutheran faith at Bethany Lutheran Church in Thompson by the Rev. J.J. Skarpness. He was confirmed at West Prairie Church at Leland. He attended Madison School in Winnebago County. He graduated from Leland High School in 1940 and furthered his education as an apprentice in carpentry and finish work with a contractor from Forest City, then worked at many jobs on farms, furniture stores, appliance repair and also helped in a funeral home.

At West Prairie Church, he held many jobs including Church Council, Sunday School teacher, and offices in Luther League, especially liking junior Bible class.

He moved to Northwood in 1943 and helped his parents farm north of Northwood. He would also do many custom jobs for neighbors and did repair work for neighbors on machinery and autos.

He married Ramona (Mona) Longshore from Boone, on Sept. 6, 1952, at the Little Brown Church near Nashua. To this union three children were born, Layne, Roxann and Lonnie.

Gene and Mona farmed for 14 years. At the encouragement of Carlyle and Ramona Olsen he enrolled in the National Technical School in Los Angeles and graduated in January 1963, then he enrolled in Honeywell 1 in Minneapolis and graduated in 1967.

They moved to town in 1968 where family members helped in the shop with the franchise for small engines, refrigeration and appliance work. He later sold the small engines franchise and started heating and air conditioning and refrigeration for residential and commercial in Northwood and surrounding communities in the name of Borseth Repair.

During this time, he was looking for more information and schooling so he joined RSES and later took the CM exam and became one of only 9200 people in the US to have this degree.

In 1999, he received an honor from N.A.T.E. (North American Technician Excellence) for his achievements to help future refrigeration men and women with his articles and answers for the National Refrigeration Magazine.

He retired in 1993 because of ill health but he still kept up with new technology.

He enjoyed being with his children and Mona, his wife and best friend. He also liked to go on trips, be it one day or a week. One thing he tried to teach his children was to love and be helpful to anyone that needed help.

He is survived by his son, Layne, and wife, Valerie, his son, Glen, and his wife, Kaci, and their daughters Samantha and Madisyn, and son, Roland, daughter, Roxann and her husband, Keith, and their children, Blake, Chad and Ann and her husband, Robert Ulrich, and their daughter, Tova, and son, Lonnie and his wife Diane and their son Caleb.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Eileen, in infancy; his parents, Iver and Minnie Borseth; his wife, Ramona Borseth, and her parents, Leon and June Longshore; and many aunts and uncles.

Schroeder & Sites Funeral Home is handling the arrangements for the Eugene Borseth family, 641-324-1121.