Roger Borkum

Roger Laurence Borkum was born on March 8, 1961 in Syosset NY to David Bernard Borkum and Judith Mae Borkum (nee, After). He attended Willits Elementary School, Harry B. Thompson Jr. High School and Syosset High School, graduating in 1979. He learned to program computers when it was still a nascent profession and esoteric skill. He worked for a small company at first and then developed a computer consulting business for multinational corporations. He went on to create a calendar app for Lotus Notes.

He cared deeply for his wife Celeste, their marriage ending with her untimely passing while on a humanitarian trip to Africa. He himself narrowly escaped death when a consulting job ended in late July 2001. The job was on the 77th floor of tower 1 of the World Trade Center; his coworkers perished on September 11 of that year.

He was, throughout his life, compassionate, ethical, and intellectual. He loved reading philosophical works from the Enlightenment and thinking about their implications for the proper manner of living. This could conflict with the business world. His bewilderment at the lending practices of a multinational bank to which he consulted in 1999 foreshadowed the banking crisis of 2008. His accidental discoveries of corruption could make for awkward relationships with coworkers. It would never occur to him to compromise his values. Perhaps for this reason he was a wonderful pet owner, treating the family's pet dogs Denise, Salt, and Pepper with attentiveness and compassion.

He is survived by his sister Debi Goss, his brother Jonathan Borkum, his nephews Christopher Imhof and Noah Goss, his maternal Aunts and Uncles Marjorie and George Schiering and Edward and Joan After, his paternal Uncle Sumner Borkum, cousins Ellen, Sue, Michael, Matthew, Joshua, Seth, Jolie, Alysha, and Mara, and family friends Gil and David Dickoff. He is predeceased by his parents, by his Aunt Sandy Borkum, and by his wife Celeste Borkum.

A funeral service will be held at 1:00 PM, Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at Congregation Beth El, 183 French St., Bangor, immediately followed by interment in Beth El Cemetery, Bangor. Those who wish to attend the service remotely via Zoom may do so by visiting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83705295963?pwd=Bar25DE3ieGbG9lV34KabtnzCjuHzg.1&jst=2. Condolences to the family may be expressed at BrookingsSmith.com.