Don C. Borrowman obituary

November 16, 1934 — February 16, 2023

Shelley

Donald Carl Borrowman was born on November 16th 1934 to Carl and Wilba Borrowman. He was born and raised in Idaho Falls and was a hard working young man with four younger brothers. 

He was kind of a quiet kid (I know, hard to imagine, right?) who went to a church youth swimming activity one evening and there he saw a tall, lovely brunette; he started doing flips and splashing her just to see her smile. Before long, they were dating, which was no easy task as she lived in the nearby town of Menan. She moved in with her sister, Jean, and started attending Idaho Falls High School with Don. At age 18 he enlisted in the Air Force and shipped out for basic training. On one of his leaves, he asked Sharon Merrill to marry him, then off he went – everywhere from Texas to Germany. During his time in the service, Don and Sharon took time out to be married in the spring of 1953 in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. His father passed away later, while he was still in the military and he was quickly called home to help his mom out with the family. 

Don and Sharon started their own family while he was still serving. They had a big baby girl, Vicki Lynne, in February of 1955, then a tiny baby girl, Katherine Jean, in June of 1956, and then a bouncy baby boy, Michael Carl, in August of 1957. It would be eight years and several miscarriages later when they got their little miracle baby, LeAnn in October of 1965. 

By this time, Don had earned his electrician’s license and after years working at Challenge Creamery and Boozer Gas Station he got on at the Idaho National Laboratory as an electrician where he stayed for the rest of his career. 

They moved into their first home they had built on Skyline Drive Drive and then, ten years later, they moved a few blocks away onto Jeri Avenue. In January of 1973 the Borrowman family made their last move to Shelley Idaho. It was there that his sweet wife Sharon passed away on December 14th, 2002. Many years later, Don was sealed to Janis Biggs in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple and continued to live in the Shelley home together for many more good years. Janis passed away on June 16th 2020. 

During his life, Don was a passionate skier, teaching his children to love hitting the slopes and even taking them out of school to do so once in a while. He loved to travel and would pack up his family in the station wagon and drive for days. They went everywhere from Yellowstone and Disneyland to Tijuana and Texas. Along the way he made sure that they stopped at every historical sign and fixed bologna sandwiches for lunch. Don and Sharon were dance instructors and could REALLY “cut a rug!” Don was also passionate about music and insisted of cranking up the volume and listening to a huge variety on his “modern stereo,” which later changed  to his Bose system in the home and in his car (still on full blast)!  His love of food never did leave him. He loved to find new diners and recipes to try. He was a very good cook.

We can’t end this obituary without mentioning his sense of humor… It went from his sarcastic political jabs and flirtatious nonsense to practical (sometimes IM-practical) jokes he would play on you. His co-workers and family have a variety of stories to tell, but in the end, he loved to laugh and would apologize if he hurt you. 

He was a big presence and will leave an even bigger hole. 

Graveside services will be held at 12:00 P.M. Thursday February 23, 2023 at the Annis Little Butte Cemetery, with Military Rites. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Nalder Funeral Home in Shelley.