Harry Roy Borcherding

Colonel Harry Roy Borcherding USAR (ret), age 95, entered peacefully into rest on November 11, 2019 at his residence in Boerne, Texas.

Harry was born in El Paso, Texas on July 28, 1924 to Claude Oliver and Helen Stevens Borcherding. He graduated from El Paso High School in 1942, and entered directly into the US Army Air Corps for the duration of World War II. He served as a radar operator on Adak in the Aleutian Islands. At the end of WWII, Harry rejoined his family in Houston, Texas, where he earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Houston. In 1949 he married Lessie Mae Tedford of San Antonio, and began a family in Houston. Harry rejoined the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1951 as a lieutenant and commanded a construction platoon in Kaiserslautern, Germany. At the end of the Korean War, he returned to his family in Houston and earned a MS degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Houston. Harry continued his military service in the US Army Reserves until he retired as Colonel in 1979. He worked as an engineer in Houston for many years primarily in the oil and gas industry while raising his family. In 1963 he accepted a job with Air Logistics Command at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, where he worked until retirement. In 1995, Harry moved to Wimberley, Texas, where he lived until he entered an assisted living residence in 2016.

Harry was preceded in death by his beloved wife Lessie, and his eldest son, Roy Borcherding and Roy’s wife Bette Tankersley Borcherding, of San Antonio. He is survived by his wife Saundra Giano Borcherding, of Boerne, sons Steve Borcherding and wife Carol, of Comfort, Ted Borcherding and wife Gail, of San Antonio, and Julian Pham and wife Rhonda, of Austin. He is also survived by his sisters Jean Borcherding Rogers, of Houston, and Joann Borcherding Anderson, of Wimberley. There are numerous step children, as well as five grandchildren, seven great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews who all adored their family patriarch, “Papa Harry”.

Harry touched many lives in both his personal and professional life. He was a religious man, and a devoted church member. He served as deacon at Manor Baptist in San Antonio. He coached youth baseball for many years, including East End Little League in Houston, Northwest Pony and Colt League, as well as Woodlawn Little League in San Antonio. Harry was an accomplished woodworker, machinist, and all-around craftsman, who spent his favorite hours in his workshop, smoking his pipe, and holding forth with the friends and family who were always drawn to him. He will be missed, but his legacy abides in all who knew him.

Interment of Harry’s ashes will be at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery Columbarium. Internment arrangements are pending. A memorial service will be held at 1 pm, November 30, 2019, at Woodland Baptist Church, 15315 Huebner Road, San Antonio, TX. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation.