occurred the death of The Right Reverend Frederick Houk Borsch
Services are pending at both St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Philadelphia, and St. Augustine by-the-Sea, Santa Monica
The Rt. Rev. Frederick Houk Borsch died in his sleep on April 11 at his Philadelphia home. He was 81 and succumbed to complications of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a blood cancer, for which he began treatment last fall.
He is survived by Barbara S. Borsch - his wife of more than 56 years and an honorary canon of the Diocese of Los Angeles - and by their sons, Benjamin, Matthew and Stuart, daughters-in-law Jeannie, Elizabeth, and Fang Vhang, grandchildren Jack, Emily, Owen and Zoe; by his sister, Jane Borsch Robbins, and by nieces and a nephew and their families.
Services are pending at both St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Philadelphia, and St. Augustine by-the-Sea, Santa Monica, congregations in which the Borsches have been active parishioners.
From 1998 to 2000 Bishop Borsch was chair of the Theology Committee of the House of Bishops. He served for seven years on the Episcopal Church's Executive Council, and was a member of the Anglican Consultative Council, after which he chaired the 1988 Lambeth Conference section titled "Called to Be a Faithful Church in a Plural World."
Long a leader in the life of the Episcopal Church and the global Anglican Communion, he was beloved by clergy, laity, and congregations alike, the latter of which he frequently called "power stations for the Holy Spirit."
At the time of his death, Bishop Borsch was professor of New Testament and chair of Anglican Studies at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, where he had served for the past decade. Previously, following his retirement in Los Angeles, he was interim dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and associate dean of the Yale Divinity School.
Prior to his election in 1987 as fifth bishop of Los Angeles, Bishop Borsch was dean of the chapel with rank of professor of religion at Princeton University. There he taught courses in history, archeology, and religions on the ancient world.
Previously he served as dean, president and professor of New Testament at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, Calif. There he was affectionately known as "Fred R. Dean," and joined students and fellow faculty members on the basketball court. A lifelong sports enthusiast, Bishop Borsch enjoyed regular jogging, swimming, canoeing, and playing tennis.
Educated at Princeton, Oxford, and New York's General Theological Seminary, he held a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham in England, conferred in 1966. He held a bachelor's degree in English literature from Princeton, earned in 1957. Ordained to the priesthood in 1960 in the Diocese of Chicago, Bishop Borsch first served in ministry from 1960 to 1963 as curate of Grace Church in Oak Park, Illinois. He was born in Chicago on Sept. 13, 1935, to Pearl and Ruben Borsch, an attorney.
As Bishop of Los Angeles, he served as chair or member of a number of boards of directors including Good Samaritan Hospital, Hillsides Home for Children; Neighborhood Youth Association; the Diocesan Investment Trust; the Cathedral Corporation; Diocesan Council, and the Corporation of the Diocese. Also he was chancellor of the Harvard-Westlake School; chair of Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders (1993-1994); founder (1991) of Episcopal Urban Intern Program; co-founder (2000) of the Los Angeles Interfaith Environmental Council; and a director of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council (1992-2002).
Bishop Borsch was the author and editor of some 20 books, including two novels and ranging from his classic Many Things in Parables to the recent titles The Spirit Searches Everything, Keeping Faith at Princeton: A Brief History of Religious Pluralism at Princeton and Other Universities and the poetry collection Parade: Poems of Light and Dark and Light Alike.
Final arrangements in Philadelphia and Santa Monica will be announced soon.
Excerpts from Bishop Frederick H. Borsch's obituary by Bob Williams.
Rest eternal grant to him, and let light perpetual shine upon him.
