Nolan C. Borch

Nolan burst onto the scene in Burlington, Vermont on April 29, 2004, and was promptly squeezed into a Florida Marlins onesie and toted off to the Little League field for opening day festivities. Our sweet Nolan, affectionately known to family as Rolie Polie Nolie, Nolie Guacamole, Nolie Bean, Bolie, and Pook was immediately absorbed into the active lives and loving hearts of his older brother and sister, Foster and Brianna, and his parents Jennifer and John.
Brianna had been pining for a baby sister since the day of her own birth. So, at four years old, she was elated to finally welcome little Nolan. She didn't let the fact that she had been presented with a brother instead of a sister change her determination to mother him like her own. When Nolan grew too big to fit in her doll cradle and started objecting to the princess outfits she dressed him in, Brianna welcomed him to her magical world of make-believe, concocting secret potions, building her Playmobil castle, and dressing him in costumes to stage performances in the barn with her. She loved her Nolie like no other and kept him at her side as her constant playmate for as long as she could.
Foster introduced Nolan to the world of boyhood in Vermont, and Nolan idolized his older brother - tagging along on every adventure that Foster would allow him to join - desperate to be accepted as one of the big boys. Foster and his six-year-old friends had little interest in a baby at first, but as the years passed, and Nolan grew into a mini-version of his older brother, he earned his place in the boy pack, and they swept him up into their adventures.
Jericho, Vermont was home for Nolan. His childhood world revolved around the family farmhouse, a couple of barns, an ancient trampoline, and a half-built tree-house. The memories we hold so dear are populated with images of Nolan on the trampoline - flying through the air, laughing with friends, and lying under the stars. There's the wonder of little Nolan finding the first egg our hens laid in the coop, his excitement at driving the lawn tractor with his dad, his enthusiasm for chasing our wild domesticated rabbits, picking pumpkins from the patch and playing barefoot soccer in the yard. As Nolan grew, the backdrop remained the same, and bikes, skateboards, and the basketball hoop filled his days.
Away from home, you could find Nolan with his rosy face flushed with his millions of freckles smiling in the sun at Mills Riverside Park where he played in the river in the summer, sledded in the winter, fished with grandpa in the pond, and practiced soccer, football, and lacrosse with his friends.
Nolan was a curious and enthusiastic learner with a love for computers and video games that he shared with his brother and his friends at all stages of his life. As we grapple with Nolan's passing, we shake our heads and smile through tears as we think of all the late nights we listened to Nolan's shouts and laughter echoing through the house as he played online games with friends - hooting and hollering as if no one else could possibly be trying to sleep with all of this fun to be had.
When John remarried in 2014, Nolan welcomed a baby sister, Ava, and eight years later, in 2022, a baby brother, Max. New siblings gave Nolan a chance to be the big brother for a change, and he relished the role. Ava and Max adored Nolan. While working from John's home office in recent years, Max "distracted" Nolan frequently with requests to play hockey in the basement or on PlayStation NHL25. Ava and Max could count on Nolan for some pick-up basketball in the driveway, a game of wiffleball in the backyard, or a family hike at a Vermont state park. Ava holds dear her memories of playing video games with Nolan, constructing gingerbread houses and cutting down the family's annual Christmas tree.
Nolan attended Jericho Elementary School, Browns River Middle School, Mount Mansfield Union High School, and the University of Vermont, but he also learned many lessons on the road. He was a traveler by default - born to a mom with a travel bug. Nolan lived abroad in Vietnam in second grade and in Morocco in middle school. He learned to bravely try new things, communicate with limited language skills, and embrace new cultures. Nolan was always up for a new travel adventure. Whether it was eating a dangerously hot chili pepper and washing it down with a Vietnamese coffee at seven, walking the 500 miles of the Camino de Santiago at nine, hiking and skiing in Morocco's Atlas Mountains, SCUBA diving in Belize, or flipping into a cenote in Mexico, Nolan made memories everywhere he went. In November he had just enjoyed a family vacation in the Dominican Republic, where he had solidified himself as his mom's favorite pickleball partner with his vicious spinning serve.
Nolan valued his friends as deeply as his family. His contagious smile twinkled from his eyes and lit up every room he entered. His elementary school pack of friends stuck together through travel absences, challenging COVID quarantines, and divergent post-high school paths. They integrated new friends through work connections at Smuggler's Notch and continued to spend cherished time with each other on breaks and online. Nolan's friends loved him and integrated him into their families. Little Nolan relished sleepovers with friends, pool time, and late-night video gaming sessions.
Big Nolan was no different. His friends meant the world to him. At UVM, Nolan quickly realized he had hit the roommate jackpot - finding loyal friends and solid ski buddies who spent late nights at Bolton with him taking videos of their ski and snowboard antics. In the fall, they celebrated moving into their first apartment together, and we all giggled when Nolan talked about "meal prep" and "deep cleaning" - phrases we never anticipated hearing from him. It made us all happy and proud to see Nolan transitioning to adulthood.
Today, it brings us a measure of peace to know that Nolan knew he was loved to the moon and back by family and friends, near and far. We showed him and told him that at every opportunity. If love could have saved Nolan, he would have lived forever. We also know that Nolan loved his family and friends with all of his heart; we felt it every time he stepped into the room, hearted a text, sent a silly meme or facebook memory, and enveloped us in a hug and an "I love you."
Yet, love was not enough to keep Nolan here. On December 21, 2025, he took his own life. Despite his easy smile, constant kindness, and sweet humor, Nolan was struggling to navigate the complexities of being a young adult in 2025 as well as layers of sorrow about which we can guess but never know.
As we move forward, we will focus on all that was beautiful and loving about our Nolie Bean. We'll continue to tell the funny stories of his adventures and find comfort in our memories of his warm love. We encourage you to do the same. Keep Nolan's memory alive by treating yourself to a spicy snack (the spicier the better), taking a run for him on a powder day at Bolton Valley, or planting a sunflower in the spring to remember the warmth and color that he brought to all our lives.
Nolan is survived by his mother, Jennifer Wilkins Borch, his father and his wife, John and Thu Borch, his brothers, Foster and Max, and his sisters, Brianna and Ava. Nolan also leaves behind a loving extended family, including Foster's partner, Emily Piersiak, Jennifer's partner Harry Frank and his children, Lila and Eli, his grandparents, Jackie Borch, and Gordon and Dorothy Wilkins. Nolan was loved deeply by a large collection of aunts, uncles, and cousins including: Chris and Kelly Wilkins and their daughter, Atilia; Sue and Mark Paulsen, and their children Dan (Ari), Aaron, and Catherine; Kelly Borch and Courtney Walker-Borch and their daughters, Maddie, Lucy, and Ellie; Ron and Yurika Borch and their children Hana and Alex; and his Aunt Naoko Tsuyuki and his cousins Emi and Andy. Nolan was predeceased by his Grampy Ron Borch and dear family friend and second mother to Nolan, Janet Hale.
We will celebrate Nolan's life with a memorial service on Sunday, January 11, 2026, at 3:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington at 152 Pearl St., Burlington, VT. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Arrangements are in the care of the Cremation Society of Chittenden County, a division of Ready Funeral & Cremation Services.