Laura Lea Borgeson

Laura Lea Borgeson passed away on Saturday January 7, 2023 at the age of 100 in her Albuquerque home beside her husband of 73 years. She lived a life of service to community, enjoying the company of countless friends, unending love and support for her children and their families, and a lifetime of deep devotion to her husband, Harry Park Borgeson. He said there could not have been a more wonderful companion with whom to share life.

Laura Lea was born August 15, 1922 at Hotel Dieu in New Orleans to Robert Spencer Stickney and Frances Richardson Stickney. Her early years were lived throughout the southern states - as an infant in New Orleans, her childhood in Memphis, TN, as an early teen in Ocala, FL, and a high schooler at Little Rock (AR) High School - all following her mother's assignments with the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Laura Lea contracted polio when she was 5 years old, leaving her without the use of her right leg from the knee down. While she could not run or ride a bike, it did not keep her from enjoying a full life. She was a strong swimmer and often delighted recalling diving under the glass bottomed boats at Silver Springs Nature Park in Florida. She began and developed her life-long passion for painting while in high school where she won the Little Rock city-wide American Legion prize for best poppy poster commemorating US veterans and was selected to compete for the DAR's pilgrimage to Washington DC. Throughout her life she reminded others that school desegregation first occurred at Little Rock High.

After graduating high school in 1940, she enrolled in Texas State College for Women in Denton. She made many good friends there as an art major and became an accomplished sharpshooter competing on the college rifle team. In 1942, she was one of the pioneer women employed on a 'doodlebug crew' in Shawnee, OK, mapping seismic readings in the exploration for oil in support of the war effort.

In 1943, she enrolled in the University of Southern California under the nationally funded program to train occupational therapists to help rehabilitate soldiers returning from the war. She was grateful for the rest of her life to her USC Kappa Delta sorority sisters for taking her in and giving her a new home. Three years later, she graduated with a BS in Occupational Therapy followed by internships at LA County General Hospital, LA Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Camarillo (CA) State Mental Hospital, and the Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in Dallas, TX. She became Director of Occupational Therapy at Woodlawn Hospital in Dallas and later was the first director for the Cerebral Palsy Treatment Center in El Paso, TX.

In El Paso, she met her life-long partner, Park Borgeson, a resident physician at Southwest General Hospital. They were married on October 16, 1949 in Dallas.

After the birth of their first child in 1950, Park and Laura Lea were stationed in Germany as part of the post war occupation. They took advantage of their leave time and traveled to Paris, Rome, Switzerland, and Holland with baby in tow. Their love for travel continued throughout their lives.

They moved to Alamogordo, NM in 1954 and set up a private medical practice with Richard and Tina Sherman. The Shermans and Borgesons were partners for 32 years. During the next two decades, in addition to raising three children, Laura Lea tirelessly served the Alamogordo community. She worked as a therapist for children with intellectual disabilities for nine years and was a director on the boards of the Zia School and the Otero County Association of Retarded Children. She was chairperson of the steering committee for the Gerald Champion Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and became a life member. She served many years on the Otero County United Way board of directors, serving as President in 1971. She was an accomplished Parliamentarian and served the New Mexico State Hospital Auxiliary Association in that role. She supported the Alamogordo High School music department, in which her children were active, as a member of the steering committee of the 'Tiger Triad', raising funds and chaperoning students during trips to various competitions including Tri-State Music Festivals in Enid OK.

Laura Lea was presented the Sertoma Clubs of Alamogordo's Service to Mankind Award in 1975. She was elected to the Alamogordo Public Schools Board of Directors in 1977, named president-elect of the New Mexico School Boards Association in 1981 and recognized in 1983 by NMSBA and NM Governor Bruce King for her dedicated service to education in New Mexico.

For her many years of community service, the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce named Laura Lea its 1978 Citizen of the Year.

In 1986, Park and Laura Lea moved to Albuquerque to be close to their first grandchild. For the next 30 years they traveled throughout the US and Europe, often with friends and family, visiting many of the National Parks and attending numerous Elder Hostels (now Road Scholars) while enjoying their hobbies of photography, watercolor painting, birdwatching, and skiing. Laura Lea was an expert at party bridge, playing several times a week for over 7 decades. She was a prolific watercolorist, traveling with her fellow painters to put to canvas the landscapes, flora, and fauna throughout New Mexico, and served as treasurer of the NM Watercolor Society for many years.

Laura Lea made countless friends in her lifetime, all mutually enjoying the other's company. She was loved by those who knew her well and will be greatly missed.

Laura Lea was preceded in death by her parents, close grandmother Isa Ora Foster and brother Richard Stickney. She is survived by her husband of 73 years Park; children Bill (Barbara), Bob, and Ann (David); grandchildren Marika, Genevieve, Paul, Sam and Ed; and two great-grandchildren.

Per her wishes, she will be cremated, and her ashes scattered in the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos. A gathering for family and friends to celebrate her life will be arranged in the near future. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Laura Lea's name may be made to your favorite community service organization.