B A LT I M O R E J E W I S H H O M E . C O M
THE BALTIMORE JEWISH HOME
NOVEMBER 17, 2016
14
In Memoriam
In Commemoration of the Shloshim of Lonnie Borck, Z’L By Margie Pensak BaltimoreJewishLife.com/Jeff Cohn
Ronit Borck says she doesn’t know how her husband, Lonnie, a”h, found the time to do the plethora of things he did—several of them unbeknownst even to her---all while he ran his business, responded to Hatzalah calls, and helped her raise a family of five children, including 2-year-old twin boys. He was an amazing son, husband, father, provider, friend, and mentor; he loved his family, friends, and community. In commemoration of Lonnie’s short but very full life and his upcoming Shaloshim, (see announcement , below) the following are just a few “Lonnie stories”. A Loving Son Lonnie’s parents, who are close to ninety, were staying at the Borcks the Shabbos he was niftar. They had a condo in town that the Borcks were renovating for them before their move to Baltimore. Right before that Shabbos, a railing to the basement had just finished being built. While going down the stairs, Lonnie’s father mentioned that the railing was not good. When Ronit expressed to Lonnie her concern about having her in-laws, he replied that he wants to put an addition onto their house. That was one of the last conversations that Lonnie and Ronit had. A Loyal Friend Lonnie, a”h, was very shaken up by his close friend, Daniel Lansky’s, a”h, petira. In fact, at the very end of Daniel’s life, his wife, Elana, told Ronit that Lonnie was the go-to person if she needed anything. There were six months of regular daily texts between Daniel and Lonnie. One in particular, written by Daniel, said how much it meant to him that Lonnie asked him on a regular basis how he was and if there was anything that he needed. Mostly what
he needed, he said, was the knowledge that someone was remembering and was there for him. When things became difficult for him to help Daniel himself, Lonnie arranged for others to step in and be there for him as well. Even Ronit didn’t know what Lonnie was doing for him. “Lonnie was the person I called whenever I needed anything medically,” says Elana. “Daniel’s oncologist never heard of the personal medical attention and resources we were able to get through Lonnie and his association with Hatzalah. They were in awe of how we were able to get the help we needed for Daniel--all led by Lon-
nie. He made the impossible possible for us. I knew I could always count on him. “I remember Daniel needed something from Shoppers after one of his chemo treatments and Lonnie ran there, picked it up, and had it at our door within 20 minutes,” continues Elana. “He always ran with zerizus to do a mitzvah and lend a helping, caring, thoughtful hand to those in need. He never made you feel like it was difficult or a burden for him to do. He always made us feel like he was on his way, anyway.” Elana also recalled how Lonnie went to her shiva house with a pack of light bulbs because he knew the Lanskys needed them in their chandelier. Ironically, at Lonnie’s shiva house, Stacey Goldenberg, director of operations at the Jewish Caring Network, mentioned to Ronit that Lonnie recently said to her, ‘We really need to do something for these women who lose their husbands.’ Like a Brother Chuckie Epstein expressed, “He was my brother. We were in NCSY together. He went to MTA in New York for ninth grade but came to Baltimore for 10th grade and stayed in the dorms in TA. When the dorm closed down for the following school year Lonnie came to live with my mother and me. He didn’t board at our house, he lived with us and was part of the family. He was with us for all of 11th grade and 12th grade. We both went to Israel together albeit to different yeshivas. After spending several years in Israel, when I finally returned home after four years, Lonnie moved back in with us for a few more years. I was an only child and he was my brother. It’s a huge loss. It’s still hasn’t really set in.” A Baal Chesed Years ago, no school would take in a particular boy who was in the eleventh grade. Lonnie picked up the phone, called a yeshiva in Israel,
and said, ‘You are taking this boy; I am vouching for this boy.’ When this boy’s mother came to Lonnie’s shiva house to express her gratitude to his family for what he did for her son, she mentioned that Lonnie could not vouch for him since he didn’t even know him. In fact, she couldn’t even vouch for her own son. Today, this young man is married, has a large family, and lives in Israel; he never came back. He is a role model father and a successful person. He is not just learning in one of the most prominent yeshivos in the world, he is a Shoel Umashiv. In addition, he is a mentor, learns privately with bochurim, and is taking psychology courses. This mother never knew her son thanked Lonnie properly and was amazed to find out, in the shiva house, that Ronit still has the air mailed letter that her son wrote to Lonnie expressing his appreciation. “He is more than he ever would have been because of Lonnie,” the mother shared in the shiva house. “I have tremendous hakaras hatov to the people who gave my child a hug when I could not. Lonnie gave him that emotional hug by believing in him and giving him that shot that he took.” A Man of Principle In his business, Lonnie would purchase Jewish domains; he acquired mainly to make sure that they went into the right hands. Even an exorbitant sum of money, offered to him by a missionary organization, could not entice him to sell one of them. A Caring Neighbor The Borcks had lived in their present home for a year when Lonnie was niftar. It bothered Lonnie that they did not know their non-observant neighbors since their paths did not cross. Ronit admits she could have walked past them and would not even have known who they were. The day before Succos, Lonnie went over to their house and invited them for dinner on