Madelyn Borden

Madelyn Hughes Borden (Maddy) Was known and treasured by friends and family as a skilled and creative gardener, a voracious reader, an intense bridge partner and a talented artist, seamstress and craftswoman. On August 6, 2010, a few months from her 95th birthday, Maddy died peacefully in her sleep, the French doors open to her garden and a soft breeze carrying in the scent of her roses. Maddy was born on October 26, 1915, in Tucson, Arizona and raised in California. She graduated from Stanford University in 1937 and moved to San Francisco where she met Charles Frederick (Fred) Borden at the World's Fair on Treasure Island in 1939. They were married in 1940 and settled in Orinda in 1945. During the 65 years she lived in Orinda, Maddy was an active member of the Orinda Garden Club, President of the Orinda Arts Council, and was involved with the Orinda branch of Children's Hospital and the early days of the White Elephant Sale in Oakland. Many will remember fondly the Orinda Garden Club tours of Maddy's Miner Road garden -- a wondrous and magical place that she cultivated for 50 years. In 1997, she moved to Orindawoods where she wasted no time in creating a similar paradise. Maddy is survived by her sister Geraldine Olson, three children, Joan Shea, Holly Borden and Rick Borden, her six grandchildren and her five great grandchildren. Maddy spent a lifetime creating beauty around her, in her homes, her gardens, her wonderful silk flowers and paintings. She will always be remembered for her passion for her garden (there was no place she would rather be), her love of anything and everything pink (especially her roses), her incredible taste and sense of style, her unwavering resolve, her fierce intelligence and high standards. She was beautiful and elegant to her final day. She was unfailingly generous. She had a deep, though-not-always-spoken love of family and others lucky enough to be close to her. Throughout her life she found countless ways to create gifts for them. She will be missed, but her indomitable spirit is forever imprinted in our hearts and minds.