Resident of Saratoga

Francis known as “Jim” left the earth on a Friday morning with his loving wife of 67 years by his side, after fighting a 2 1/2 year battle with cancer. He passed gracefully, four days after his 90th birthday on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

Jim was born in Manhattan and humbly raised in the Bronx by his strong but loving Irish mother, Agnes Kelly.

They relocated to the Watts area of Los Angeles when he started middle school and his mother worked as a waitress.

He excelled in academics and attended Loyola high school where he also ran track and was all city in the 880. He then obtained an EE degree from Loyola University where he took the teachings of the Jesuits to heart and made many life long friends. He met his greatest fortune in Carol Ann Borgerding from San Diego at an Immaculate Heart College dance and they were married soon after his graduation.

They started a family traveling the country together while he was anofficer in the US Air Force. He spent the next 20 years in the tech industry predominantly, representing Hewlett Packard. Jim was promoted numerous times at HP and rose to become an international sales manager for their computer division. In an effort to travel less and enjoy more family time, he switched careers to commercial real estate. Jim brought his work ethic and creative intellect to the industry for nearly 30 years, culminating with an induction into the ASVB hall of fame in the Silicon Valley.

His physical passion for running led him to a 3 1/2 hour finish in the Paul Masson marathon at age 55, a qualifying time for the Boston marathon. Jim loved playing golf and was a member of the Pasatiempo golf club as well as adie hard Giants fan. He was anavid reader and took many trips abroad with his wife including one to compete for the McKenzie cup at the royal Melbourne golf club in Australia. He was president of the Saratoga Retirement Community resident council, and a CASA volunteer with his wife Carol. He enjoyed attending his families sporting events and graduations, and worked tirelessly to provide his family with the many things he never had growing up. Jim could charm a room with his deep character and witty sense of humor and will be always be remembered on a nightly kneel to pray, or an orange a day.

He is survived by his wife Carol, five children Chris (Beth), Karen, Mark (Sandy), Paul (Judy), Sheila (Mike), eleven grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, November 2nd at 11 am at Sacred Heart Church in Saratoga. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jim’s memory to the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School San Jose www.cristoreysj.org/giving