Roger Borkey Memorial Collegiate Scholarship Fund
The Roger Borkey Collegiate Scholarship Fund honors Roger’s dedication to service and integrity and his 37 years as an active Rotary member.
Roger Kent Borkey grew up on a farm in Templeton, CA. After graduating from high school, Roger attended Fresno State University and graduated with a BS in Agricultural Mechanics in 1966. While in college he was an exchange student in Taiwan for 6 months and also served in the US Coast Guard. He began his 28 year career with PG&E immediately following graduation from Fresno State. During his tenure with PG&E he was promoted 8 times serving in the Central Valley and Bay Area, and was particularly proud of two accomplishments; the first for working with the engineering department to get 9,000 new homes connected (a record at the time), and the other for “Best New Business Service in the Country” while in San Rafael.
Along with his wife and two children, Roger moved to Burney in 1984. While there, he was a member of the Burney-Fall River Rotary Club for 37 years where he held every office at least once. Always wanting to be involved in the community, he was also President of the Burney-Fall River Education Foundation, and President of the Burney Chamber of Commerce. He coached his son’s teams for Burney Little League, Youth Basketball, and Soccer. In 1994, Roger took an early retirement from PG&E but did not stay idle long. After his retirement, Roger worked for several school districts, Dicalite, and ended his working career at Packway Materials in Cassel. He also drove water tenders under the Packway banner for CalFire to fight wildland fires.
Roger enjoyed traveling the country and the world, and watching sports, particularly baseball and football, but most importantly, he enjoyed being a husband for 51 years, a father to his two children, and later a Papa to his three beloved grandchildren. He was known for his welcoming, gentleness, and kindness, being able to carry on a delightful conversation with anyone he encountered. Roger was known for having an incredible sense of integrity and strong work ethic. Until the day he died, he lived by the principles of “If you are going to do something, you should do it right” and “treat others as you would like to be treated”.
The Roger Borkey Memorial Collegiate Scholarship Fund will support Burney or Fall River High School seniors, or graduates within the last 3 years, who are planning to attend a four-year college, university, or vocational school. Interact Club members are encouraged to apply.
