Carl W. Borgstrom

Carl Borgstrom (Oct 24, 1942- Sept 3, 2024)
Carl Borgstrom, of Holly, Michigan, went home to be with God on September 3, 2024. Carl was an avid outdoorsman and loved to hunt and fish as well as tinker with anything mechanical that needed to be fixed. He spent nearly 30 years working for General Motors as a skilled tradesman at the Fisher Body plant in Pontiac, Flint Truck & Bus Assembly in Flint, and the Service Parts Operations in Swartz Creek. Carl was a proud United States Marine and was stationed at Camp Pendleton in southern California where he met the love of his life, Patty, to whom he was married for 62 years. Together, they had three children: Steve (Colleen) Borgstrom of Holly, Holly Borgstrom Pfeifer of Grand Blanc, and Joe (Kirsten) Borgstrom of East Lansing. Those three children gave he and Patty seven grandchildren: Aubrey, Sophie, Amelia, Kate, Gabriel, Jack, and Nathan. He taught his kids and grandkids to fish and took great joy being captain of the ship when taking them for boat rides. Carl loved to travel, and he and Patty spent the early part of their retirement seeing the country in their fifth wheel or at their cabin in St. Helen or the following cottage on Houghton Lake. Carl was the very definition of a "people person" and loved to talk to anyone who would listen and would strike up conversations with complete strangers anywhere he went, often to the chagrin and slight embarrassment of his kids during their teen years. They would later come to appreciate this talent as they learned he was able to make friends wherever he went. Including the more than one occasion he held a garage sale, for which the family suspected it was more to meet people than sell belongings. In more recent years, Carl was in an assisted living home where he was known as one of the more "colorful characters," and his family was assured it was a good thing to be called. In addition to his wife, children, and grandchildren, he leaves behind a beloved sister, Karen (Larry) Kurkowski, niece Mary Trew, nephews Gary (Diane) Tedder, John (Janice) Tedder, Mike Kurkowski, and dozens of great nephews and great nieces who all knew him as "Uncle Butch." Upon his passing, he joined his parents, three brothers, and several nephews, a niece, and numerous good dogs he owned who had proceeded him in death.
Visitation for Carl will be on Thursday, September 12 from 11am-1pm with a funeral service at 1pm at Dryer Funeral Home in Holly, MI. A graveside service and military honors will be held at 2:30 PM immediately following funeral services at Great Lakes National Cemetery, Holly. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Carl's memory to The Care Team Home Health and Hospice or to the Holly Area Veterans Resource Center.