Edward Alan Borchers

February 26, 1925 – June 20, 2026

Edward Borchers, age 101, passed away peacefully on June 20, 2026 on what would have been his 73rd wedding anniversary. He was predeceased in 2023 by his wife of 70 years, Mary Jane Sterner Borchers. 

Ed grew up on a small family farm in Spring Valley, New York, the middle of three sons of Edward Nicholas Borchers and Grace Mildred Huff Borchers. After being deferred by the military during WWII, he helped run the farm until 1947, when he enrolled in the School of Agriculture at Cornell University. After graduation he obtained a Masters at North Carolina State University, and he and Mary Jane were married in her hometown of Dansville, New York in 1953. Their grand adventure was driving across the country for their honeymoon to Davis, California, where Ed received his PhD in Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis in 1956. They returned to the east coast to Ed’s first and only job at what was then the Virginia Truck Experiment Station on Diamond Springs Road in Virginia Beach. He worked there for 35 years, first as a plant breeder, retiring as the director in 1991. His work focused on collard and kale varieties still grown today.

Ed had a long and busy retirement, particularly enjoying his large garden at his home in Thoroughgood. He was active in Bayside Presbyterian Church. In addition to his wife, Ed was predeceased by his parents and his brothers Donald Borchers and Robert Borchers. He is survived by his daughters Susan Maygarden (Anthony) and Nancy Walker, and grandsons Phillip Walker and Nick Walker. He is remembered fondly for his always upbeat nature and his great love of the natural world.